The Illusion of Youth
by BYoshi1993
Summary: Harry encounters a few experiences that make him decide at a young age that he doesn't want to grow up. What adventures will our pint-sized hero go through when he is forever three feet tall in a world of adults? How will he handle adults constantly looking down on him, literally! Child!Smart!Powerful?Harry
1. Chapter 1

**The Illusion of Youth  
**

**By: BYoshi1993**

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling. Not me.

-Line Break-

**Chapter 1: The Wish**

Young four-year-old Harry didn't know what he did to the Dursley's to make them send him to school, but he was so happy that they did! He had the nicest, kindest, prettiest teacher in the world: Ms. Sullivan. The teacher stood at a proud five feet five inches (~1.6 meters) exactly; she had a slightly tanned complexion, brown eyes, long brown hair, and a smile for every student in her class. That smile was quick to go should one of her students start to get out of hand, but for every disciplinary action that she had to take with her students, she always reinforced better behavior afterwards. Her class was set up to flow very well from her desk, the board, and the students. It was set up in groups of stations for each student to sit at when they came into the classroom in the morning and those groups were later used in stations to allow all of her students to move around so as to not get too restless during school hours. The walls were decorated with colorful construction paper to later showcase her students' work and happy designs that showed the alphabet, numbers, and the rules of the classroom.

Harry James Potter, unlike his teacher, stood only at a modest three feet (91 cm.) in his slightly too large clothes and round-framed glasses. He wore a dark green shirt that matched his emerald-green eyes and black trousers that almost passed his sneakers. Harry was a as happy as any four-year-old could be at school for the first time, which was apparently quite a lot when you grew up with a family like the Dursleys. Harry's relatives strived for normality in a world that they knew contained the abnormal: the dreaded Wizarding folk. They treated the cherubic green-eyed child with such distaste simply because he contained magic, the key to the Wizarding folks' power. The Dursleys were _burdened_ with Harry on a cold Halloween three years ago when he was left on the doorstep with the milk with only a note to explain that they essentially had to take the child and be protected or be hunted down by magical terrorists. Needless to say, they were not ecstatic to be taking in their nephew after being coerced in such a way, and they didn't make Harry's stay welcome either as a result.

Harry was given a list of chores every day since he had turned four to "earn his keep" in the Dursley Household. Such chores included raking the leaves, cutting the grass, vacuuming the house and mopping the kitchen, and washing the dishes. While he only got one or two chores everyday due to his young age, he still had to do much more than what was expected to his age group: just being a kid wasn't really something Harry had every gotten to enjoy as he didn't have any toys to call his own or any friends due to only knowing his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley. But now, in this classroom, maybe he could make friends with some of his classmates and play Legos, cards, or tag with them. Harry was as excited as he could be as he watched his guardians leave the classroom, or tried to anyway, as their son became very clingy to his parents as he realized they would be leaving him there _the whole day_ without his television or Playstation to entertain him.

The emerald-eyed boy watched this all without saying much to his relatives other than a "goodbye." He was much more interested in his desk as it was the first thing that was actually _his_; it had his name on it and everything! The young boy and never really owned much of anything other than the blanket that he was wrapped in when he was deposited on the Dursley's doorstep and Dudley's hand-me-downs. He was quite proud of his shiny, laminated name tag on the top of his desk. Looking around, he saw his fellow students already starting to pick at the tape pinning it down on the desk, but Harry didn't want to ruin the first new thing that was ever his, even if it was only for the school year. Looking inside of the cubby that the desk had, he found that it contained a few books and some pieces of paper but not much else. He wanted to introduce himself to the members of his group, but he had too many butterflies in his stomach to say much else other than a quiet, "Hello."

Sitting at his desk, Harry couldn't really do much other than swing his legs at his seat waiting for his teacher to start the day. After getting everyone seated, Ms. Sullivan clapped for everyone to be quiet and to get their undivided attention. When she was sure everyone was listening, she began her welcoming speech, "Hello! And welcome to your first year of school! I'm sure we'll have a great time together. My name is Marie Sullivan but call me Ms. Sullivan, alright?" She looked out to nods and okays among her students; immediately she decided to make this into a lesson on the rules of the classroom.

"Okay class, from now on whenever I ask you if you understand something, please say, 'Yes, Ms. Sullivan' or 'No, Ms. Sullivan.' I need everyone to do this so I know that everyone understands, okay?"

The class jumped up a bit when Ms. Sullivan looked at them and all droned, "Yes, Ms. Sullivan."

"Excellent job! I'm glad everyone understands. Alright, today I just want to start to know your names and we'll play a game alright? I want us all to say your name as I point to you, and then say something that you like to do. Alright, I'll go first.

"My name is Marie Sullivan, and I like to do a few runs around the park to relax after school," she introduced. Afterwards, she pointed to the nearest student, a brown headed boy, and asked him to introduce himself.

Harry was really nervous. He never had to speak in front of so many people before but worse than that he didn't really know what he liked to do. Before school started, he mostly just did what his relatives told him to do and lie on the floor of the living room watching Dudley play with his toys. He had tried to play with Dudley once, but the blonde had immediately started yelling for his mom. When Petunia came in and saw Harry playing with her son's toys, she immediately berated him for touching things that don't belong to him and sent him to his cupboard under the stairs to "think about what he did." At the time, Harry didn't really know what is was that he did that was wrong but quickly learned to just leave Dudley and his toys alone, even if it meant that he had to come up with things to entertain himself.

Oh! That was something! Harry liked to make up stories. To entertain himself at home, the young boy put his imagination to the test and started to come up with stories for things around the house like Dudley would do with his toy airplanes and action figures. Though after this small mental exercise, Harry soon got distracted listening to each of his classmates say their names and something they liked to do, he didn't notice that it was his turn until everyone was staring at him.

Nervously, Harry began, "Um..m..my name is Harry Potter, and I like to make up stories," he ended quietly.

The brown-headed woman stared at Harry for a second before saying, "Excellent! I love to use my imagination as well Harry. I'd love to hear a story from you sometime." She finished with a smile in Harry's direction. The small boy blushed and looked down at his desk with a small smile.

The introductions went on until they reached the last child, Harry's cousin, Dudley Dursley who sat across the room from Harry. He was quick to jump up and introduce himself loudly saying, "My name is Dudley Dursley, and I like to watch T.V. and play on my Playstation and play games on my computer and my favorite food is pizza and…"

Ms. Sullivan was quick to cut Dudley off before he got going any further, "Now, now Dudley. I enjoy your enthusiasm but please keep your voice down as there are other classrooms around us, alright? But, I am still glad that you shared with us."

The blonde nodded quickly so he didn't get in any trouble.

She clapped her hand together saying, "I loved each and every one of your introductions. While it may take me some time to learn all of your names, I promise that I will. Now, how about we start to learn the classroom rules before we take a small break…"

-Line Break-

Harry loved his first day of school. He got to make a few friends with some of the other kids in his group and best of all Dudley couldn't do anything to him because he was in a different group. He got to do arts and crafts and even learned how to spell his name, or at least attempt to. He still didn't understand why some letters needed to be capitalized and others didn't but he just followed the directions that Ms. Sullivan told him.

While Harry was sitting in the back of the car on the way home, Dudley was telling his parents everything that happened during his day.

"Mummy, I had a lot of fun today. I guess school isn't that bad because we got to play with blocks and sleep and run around at recess and gym. But I don't like this one girl in my class. Her name is Kaley and she called me fat. I'm not fat am I mummy?"

"Of course not dear. You're just a healthy, growing boy. Don't ever let anyone tell you differently Sweetums," Aunt Petunia doted.

Uncle Vernon was quick to add, "Your mum's right Dudders. If anyone ever bothers you, you give them the old one-two, got it?" He gestured punching some invisible foe, taking his hands off the wheel for a moment, thankfully they were at a red light.

Harry didn't really think that was his Uncle was saying applied to him. He wasn't very strong or as big as Dudley; he had a feeling that even if he did try to hit someone it wouldn't do much and he'd be in even more trouble. He hoped he never had to get into a fight with anyone, though it was hard to imagine fighting anyone in his class. They were all so friendly.

Since he was starting to get bored as Dudley recounted every detail of his day on the car ride home, the precocious black-haired daydreamer decided to imagine a story out of the people walking on the street that he passed in the car on the way home. He quickly tuned out the Dursleys and he watched a young man and woman walk their dog on the side walk. He imagined that the woman was nice like Ms. Sullivan and the man was a successful business man like the ones that he saw in movies on the telly. The couple would have a lot of friends and everyone would like them. They would have to get married because everyone has to get married when their old. Their dog would be nice too; he wouldn't be mean like Ripper, his "Aunt" Marge's dog, who chases him up the tree in the front yard. Maybe their dog could find a friend too and they would have dog adventures through the neighborhood.

Harry was snapped from his imaginations by Vernon opening his door yelling, "Out Boy! We're home!"

The small child quickly unbuckled his seat belt, closed the door, and followed his Uncle to the front door of Number 4 Privet Drive with his Aunt Petunia and rotund cousin. Dudley immediately ran upstairs to throw his backpack into his room and rushed back to the living room to watch the cartoons that were coming on. Petunia went off to the kitchen to prepare a few sandwiches for her growing son because the school obviously didn't feed him enough. Vernon went up the stairs to work on some papers that he had brought home from work; he really needed to show his boss that he wanted the promotion that was up for grabs.

While everyone went their separate ways, Harry was still at the door taking off his coat and shoes to hang on the hooks near the door. He wasn't really in any rush to do anything until his Aunt called him to the kitchen.

"Boy get in here and help me," his Aunt called shrilly. Harry ran from the door to the kitchen so his Aunt wouldn't become even sparer with him; it was hard to tell with her since she always had this look on her face whenever she saw Harry.

"Washes your hands, who knows what kind of diseases you've decided to bring home." She had her back turned to him when he came in working on what Harry assumed to be sandwiches. The young man made his way over to the sink and step stool that he and Dudley both used to get around the kitchen. Stepping up, he quickly scrubbed his hands clean so he could help his Aunt with preparations for dinner.

"I'm done washing my hands Aunt Petunia. What do you need me to do?" His Aunt pointed to a few vegetables, a cutting board, and a knife on the table.

Turning around, Harry climbed up the chair so he could reach the cutting board. Picking out the first piece of food - a potato - he began to peel it and cut it up in chunks like he had done before. His fingers were still getting used to handling a knife, but Harry made sure to be extra careful so he wouldn't cut himself. It had hurt enough the first time and he didn't want a repeat.

After finishing the potatoes he moved on to the carrots, onion, and celery. When he was finished he hopped off the chair and walked over to his Aunt to pull on her pants to get her attention. He wasn't allowed to yell across rooms. She looked down at him and he pointed to his prepped food and said, "I'm done Aunt Petunia."

She nodded at his work and handed him one of the sandwiches she had been making saying, "After you eat that, tell Dudley and Vernon that their sandwiches are ready." Harry nodded.

-Line Break-

Time passed by surprisingly quickly in the Dursley household. After he had told everyone that their sandwiches were ready, Harry hopped on the couch to try to sneak a few minutes of the cartoon that was on the telly. His relatives didn't really like Harry watching cartoons, or much of any television, muttering about not wanting him to "get any ideas." He didn't really know what that meant.

Soon enough, Harry had just finishing eating the dinner the he helped make and was on his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth and prepare for his 9 o'clock bedtime to be ready for school tomorrow.

He made it back to his bedroom, turned off the light, and went to sleep and dreamed of a beautiful, young red-headed woman who rocked him in a rocking chair singing "Hush Little Baby."

"I love you Harry. Don't you ever forget that your mommy loves you my beautiful baby boy. I'll love you forever and ever." The last thing he remembered seeing was her beautiful green eyes.

Hours later, Harry woke up with tears in his eyes, a feeling of love (if that was what it was), and a full bladder (an odd combination of feeling to be sure). He ran up the stairs to the bathroom before he burst. On the way to the bathroom he passed his Aunt and Uncle's bedroom and heard them talking.

"Pet, I just don't see how we can keep this up. He's already four and we haven't heard back from any of those freaks; they didn't even give us any compensation for taking him in! At this rate, we'll be out on the streets because we can't make the house payment, let alone enough food for a growing boy. We can't lose our image with the neighbors either. Lord knows that Tom's always wanted to rub his money in my face," Vernon lamented to his wife, "You may have to get a part time job."

"Oh Vernon, don't worry yourself over it. You'll get that promotion. You have to for our family's sake. I can't imagine getting back into the job market after being away for so long taking care of Dudley; I'd have to start at the bottom all over again. It was bad the first time, I can't imagine a second."

Harry didn't really have time to think about what his relatives were saying before his bladder reminded him that he really needed to go to the toilet. After flushing and washing his hands using the stepping stool in the bathroom, he ran down the stairs to his "room" before his relatives could catch him awake.

On his way back to his cupboard, he looked out the window at the black sky outside and happened to see a shooting star. He knew that you were supposed to make a wish on shooting stars from what Petunia had once told Dudley and he thought back on his day. It had to have been one of the best days that he ever had in his entire life and he wouldn't mind being able to do that every day. Especially important, was not having to deal with adult problems that his relatives were discussing. Those didn't sound like fun at all.

"I wish I never had to grow up. Maybe…maybe if I stay little long enough that pretty lady will come back to take care of me," Harry muttered under his breath happily to the shooting star. His intent coupled with the belief in the wish giving powers of a shooting and a child's heartfelt wish, the boy's magic did everything it could to make the young child happy by granting the wish. Little did he know how this wish would affect him in the coming future. He would soon forget the wish as he went off to sleep and the years went by.

-Line Break-

AN: Hope that you guys liked the first installment of my story. I've been watching a lot of the Detective Conan series lately and really started to wonder what kind of trials that a kid may have in an adult world should he/she ever have to stay a kid. So, I thought I'd try it out in the Harry Potter Universe.

Hope that the teacher wasn't too sappy, but as a teacher in training, I think it's similar to what would occur in a young elementary school classroom.

Please tell me if you think that the dialogue and thought processes were believable (or not). I haven't written in a long, long time, and I doubt that my writing has come very far from disuse (other than on school papers). Sorry that I had to use such a cliché plot device, but I couldn't really think about anything else that I could use to get my story going. I have the story outlined for the next few chapters and have an ending in mind…though I have to get there. I plan to go through all 7 of the Hogwarts years and will try my best to include a bit of comedy. I hope I do the characters justice.

As for the wish...keep in mind Harry's four. He's still pretty naive when it comes to certain things.

Regards,

Michael


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Growing Up?**

It's pretty hard to tell when you're growing up because everyone else around you is growing with you, though it's pretty easy to tell when you're not. For Harry Potter, this revelation came when he was six in the second grade of primary school. It didn't take a genius to see that he was constantly the shortest person in his class, a point that he was ridiculed for by his fellow classmates on the playground, particularly Dudley, who had picked up on that he could be as mean as he wanted to his cousin without any punishment from his parents.

For Harry, this meant a lot of running away from his cousin. While he was pretty fast for his age and size, the poor boy just couldn't outrun his cousin and his friends every time. This meant he had to be extremely clever to outmaneuver his foes. He had slipped into small holes in fences, under cars, and in other hidey holes that he had found at his school and near his home just to get away from his cousin's gang.

Thankfully, the green-eyed youngster was currently in class, outside of his cousin's reach. Harry looked to the front of his class at his teacher, Ms. Brookes. She wasn't as nice as some of his past teachers but she always treated everyone fairly. She was tall for a woman, standing at six feet (~1.82 m) with black hair tied up into a tight bun. The woman always wore nice dress clothes that matched her very strict, no-nonsense personality.

Harry still loved school despite the best efforts of his fellow classmates to make him think differently. He took pleasure in learning addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; his love of exploring the world of science was unparalleled by anyone else in his class. Learning how plants took in energy from the sun and somehow turned it into energy to grow just astounded the budding scientist. The Universe was particularly interesting because it made his problems seem so small as he was one kid on a planet of 5 billion people with their own problems, on a planet that rotated the sun that was a million times bigger than itself, and in a solar system that spanned light years that was infinitesimally small compared to the greater galaxy. It was something that he could barely fathom, he really didn't think he could to be honest; it was hard enough imagining anything other than London outside of Surrey, let alone the rest of the world.

While Harry was having an existential crisis, Ms. Brookes was covering the importance of knowing addition very well because it relates very easily to multiplication, which was basically adding the same number over and over again, at the front of the class with numerous examples before arranging the class into groups to try a few simple problems on their own on the worksheets that she passed out. Seeing this, Harry turned to his partner, Jessica, a tomboyish young girl that always insisted to being called Jess and wore her blonde hair cut short with a t-shirt and jeans, to begin working on his math problems with her.

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Vernon Dursley was feeling good about his life. After two years of hard work at his job, sucking up to his boss, and pinching pennies as best as he and Petunia could, he had finally received a promotion to manager of the Surrey branch of Grunning's Drills. It was hard to not show his financial stress to his wife or son, but he managed. The raise certainly came at just the right time because at six-years-old, Dudley wasn't satisfied was paltry toys anymore. He wanted the toys and games all of his friends had, and incidentally, those toys cost quite a bit more than the average teddy bear. He just couldn't bring himself to say no to his only son though; he wanted his Dudders to have the best childhood he could have so he doesn't repeat with his own son that his father did to him. He was going to give his son the best of life he could even if it killed him.

The boy, though, was worrying. While Vernon doesn't usually notice his nephew all that much - other than when he was doing his chores to earn his keep - he did notice that he hadn't been growing as much as Dudley had been over the last two years. He didn't know much about mag…_that_, but he was pretty sure that what was happening to his nephew wasn't normal (not even for those freaks). Something had to be done; he wasn't going to stand by and let his life fall apart because his nephew refused to grow up. He'd have to schedule an appointment with a pediatrician in London this weekend, surely the doctor would be able to do something. Vernon nodded to himself, satisfied that he had some control over his life again, and went back to working on the financial meeting that he had later that day.

-Line Break-

When Harry arrived home after school on Friday, his Aunt immediately jumped him at the door pulling him aside, "Boy, you're going to see a doctor tomorrow. I don't know what's wrong with you but whatever is going on with your body to make you so short has to be fixed." Harry couldn't help but slightly agree; it would be nice to grow up a little, if only to be able to out run his cousins and not be picked on at school. The ebony haired youth nodded saying, "Yes Aunt Petunia."

"Good. Vernon will be taking you tomorrow as he is off work. Behave yourself or else." Harry had an idea of what 'or else' meant and he really didn't want to have to do more chores, though thankfully, the number he had to do each day had not increased in number due to him not growing.

The next morning, Vernon banged on his door at 7 am, "Get up! Be ready to leave in 10 minutes. Look presentable will you and comb that damn hair!"

Harry groggily replied, "Yes Uncle Vernon." The tired child let out a yawn and stretched as best as he could in his cupboard, which was pretty well considering his age as he couldn't even reach end-to-end of his cupboard with the tips of his fingers and toes.

As he stretched and started to get ready for the day, Harry's thoughts led to the man in the kitchen, who was preparing coffee to wake himself up. He and his Uncle Vernon had not have had the best of relationships. At worst, his Uncle would force him to do twice as many chores for whatever excuse he came up with; at best, he completely ignored Harry, having little to no interaction with his charge. Most of the time, he was somewhere in between. Harry had seen his Uncle surely about to go into a rage on some occasions when he saw him (he even had his hand raised as if it slap the back of his head), but most of the time he just looked at the small boy and his energy just seemed to sink right out of him and he goes back to ignoring his small charge. Harry didn't really know what was wrong with his Uncle sometimes.

After finishing his business in the bathroom, a routine he had gotten quite used to, Harry hopped on down the stairs to his Uncle waiting near the door impatiently.

"Come on boy, we haven't got all day. It's a long drive to London and no doubt the Doctor's will be filled with sick people," he shivered at the thought.

Harry pulled on his jacked and sneakers as best as he could and followed his Uncle to the new company car he had gotten with his promotion. The black SUV was Vernon's pride and joy next to his family; it had all the fixings: nice rims, a clean, sleek design, a sunroof, and a scintillating sound system. Harry should know, he had to help his Uncle clean it every Sunday.

Harry climbed into the back seat, buckled his seat belt, and prepared for a long drive to the Doctor's office with only the music on the radio to keep the silence away.

-Line Break-

After an hour and a half drive in near silence, Vernon and Harry finally arrived at the Pediatric practice of Dr. David Radish, at least that's what was written on the door. The office was outlined in many toys for the children and almost-comfy-enough chairs for the adults. Adorned on the walls were all sorts of certificates and licenses that Harry couldn't make heads or tails of. In addition to the official documents, the walls were covered with childish wallpaper that depicted teddy bears, unicorns, and rainbows. It was a step up from the boring white walls at the Dursley's house in Harry's opinion. After looking around, Vernon and Harry walked up to the secretary to confirm their appointment at 10 am and Vernon was given a clipboard with paperwork to fill out.

As Vernon filled out the paperwork with his nephew's information and his own, Harry occupied himself with the available toys. The emerald-eyed boy had seen a few of these toys a few years ago when he was in Ms. William's class and remembered having a lot of fun with them. The toys were varied from a small block table with large blocks underneath to wire toys where you had to guide wooden beads through the tangled web to a tic-tac-toe board that he played with a few of the other kids that were there. When he looked up from his playing, his Uncle was just staring at him but when he noticed Harry's gaze, he turned away. Continuing his examination of the room, the odd toddler saw a lot of the moms smiling as him when he caught their gaze.

He quickly turned his head back around to play with the toys, blushing. He grinned at the girl across from him, handing her a block as a peace offering to play with him. She shyly took the red block from him and scooted closer to him so they could build a block house together, complete with three bedrooms.

It wasn't his fault he liked playing with these toys. They were still a lot of fun, despite having almost outgrown them at least mentally. Soon enough, he and his Uncle were alone in the waiting room as all of the other children had been called in for their checkups. Having gotten bored playing by himself, he crawled into the chair situated next to his Uncle.

After a couple of minutes of near silence with only the secretary's phone ringing to break the monotony, his Uncle muttered, "Ugh! Stupid Doctors, making good people wait just so they can feel important. Someone come out already!" Almost like his Uncle summoned him, a nurse clad in blue scrubs walked out of the door leading to the examination rooms and called out, "Dursley?" He looked toward Harry's Uncle. They both got up from their chairs and followed the young man through the doors to an examination room.

Harry sniffed and couldn't really identify what the smell was other than _clean_. It was an odd, almost minty smell; it reminded him of the nurse's office at his school.

The boy was pulled from his musings by the nurse handing him a children's pair of scrubs saying, "Here you go Harry. I need you to change into these, okay? I'll come back in a few minutes; I'm sure your Uncle can help you if you need it," he left sending a disarming smile full of white teeth at the pair.

Looking at the robe, Harry wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do with it. He had never been to the Doctor's before; the boy looked to moustached man in the chair next to the door. He walked up to his Uncle and noticed that he tensed, and stepped back while nervously asking, "Uncle Vernon, how…can you help me put this on?"

The man stared at him for a second before getting up and gruffly ordering, "Take off your shoes, socks, trousers, and shirt and give me the robe." Harry pulled off his old clothes and put them in pile on the chair next to where Vernon had sat earlier then came back, looking at his Uncle.

By that time his Uncle had unfolded the robe and held it out with the back end open toward his nephew, though it was slightly awkward. Harry walked forward and put his arms through the holes and noticed immediately that the material felt really awkward against his skin, like someone had decided to makes clothes out of paper. He didn't really like it. His Uncle turned him around and pulled the robe closed and tied it back with a simple knot. Then, he stood up from his squat and opened the door to the waiting nurse outside.

The nurse walked in smiling and introduced himself, "Hello. My name is Chris. Let's get you situated alright Harry." The boy in question looked up at Chris before the man bent down and lifted him off his feet for a second before putting him down onto the examination table.

"Alright Harry. Before Dr. Radish can come in to do his personal checkup, I have to do a few things for him. Think you can help me out?" Harry looked at his face and smiled while replying, "Okay."

"Great, great! Now, how about we check your heart first," he pulled the stethoscope off of his neck and put it in his ears, while putting the end on Harry's chest. The young boy shivered; it was cold!

Noticing this, Chris asked, "Cold?" Harry just nodded and the nurse apologized.

"How about this to make it up to you, why don't you listen to my heart?" He wiped everything off, and put the device in Harry's ears and placed the end of the device over his own heart. Harry jumped at the sound of the amplified movement before the heart the tell-tale _ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump_ of the nurse's heart. The boy grinned before he started giggling to himself saying, "It sounds funny," between giggles.

"Oh, really? Well, I'll have you know that your heart beat sounds just like that. In fact, everyone in the world has a heart the beats just like that," the nurse jokingly defended himself from Harry's giggles.

He took the stethoscope out of Harry's ears and wiped everything off again before replacing it around his neck. From there, he checked all Harry's different senses and reflexes; the boy thought it was pretty awesome that his leg could just kick out like that when you hit the knee. Afterwards, they went to go weigh Harry and check his height and came back to the room.

"Bye Harry, be good for the doctor alright?" Harry nodded and smiled at the friendly nurse. "Mr. Dursley," He nodded to Uncle Vernon with a smile as well. Vernon grunted in acknowledgment. From there, it was just back to waiting while Dr. Radish looked over Harry's chart.

After 10 minutes of just sitting in the room, the doctor finally came in. He was near middle-aged and looked like he had a bit of weight around his belly, though he still looked like a good doctor in his white coat. He smiled, which made his laugh lines crinkle, as he came in and said, "I'm sorry for the wait; it seems we're pretty busy today."

He looked to Vernon for a second and introduced himself then looked at Harry and commented, "Well Harry, you are one special boy, aren't you?" The ebony-haired boy blushed. The doctor turned back to Vernon, "Mr. Dursley, I have never seen anything like Harry's case in the 23 years that I have been a pediatrician. It almost seems that he stopped growing after he turned four or five years old, based on his height and weight." Here he sat in the one of the chairs near Vernon and whispered so as to not scare Harry, "I don't know what could be wrong with him with just the basic tests. We would have to do numerous tests just to have a hint as to where the problem is, but I think some simple tests should be done first. Would you consent to a blood and urine test for Harry?" he asked.

Vernon thought for a second before saying, "What would this cost me? I don't want to spend too much should his body just decide to start growing again," he gestured to Harry.

Dr. Radish frowned slightly but answered, "Those tests are completely free and would greatly help us in determining what might be wrong, or, as you said, he could just be at the cusp of a growth spurt. However, based on the fact that this has been going on for nearly two years, I don't see this as being very likely."

After the conversation, Dr. Radish got up and started a quick physical for Harry. He asked him to turn his neck back and forth to touching his toes. He did some of the stuff that Nurse Chris checked for too; Harry assumed he was just double-checking. Harry really wasn't sure why, but the doctor checked his willie too; it was weird but the man seemed to have done this hundreds of times so he just went with it with all the nonchalance of an actual four-year-old. After the doctor was sure he was 100% healthy and was in the best shape he could be given the circumstances, he lead Harry and his uncle to another room that had a few machines covering the entirety of the counter from wall to wall.

Searching through the cabinet, the doctor pulled out a small cup and handed it to Harry, who was told he had to pee it, and was pointed to a bathroom down the hall. The doctor's office was getting weirder and weirder; Harry was beginning to think the middle-aged man might be a bit bonkers, but he did as he was asked…even if it was really odd. He washed his hands as quick as he could afterwards, of course.

After finishing in the bathroom, Harry headed back to room with all the machines. There he saw Vernon and Doctor Radish talking, but they quieted after he entered. He handed the doctor his pee then asked, "Why do you need that?" to which the doctor responded, "Oh don't worry about it little man. We just run some tests on it so that we know you're eating well and are healthy. Now come over and hop on the table over here."

"Alright Harry, you're Uncle asked me to make sure that you're 1000% healthy so he let us take a _little_ bit of blood, okay? I just need you to lie back on the table – yes, just like that – and hand me your left arm please." Harry handed over his arm and looked on curiously as the doctor took out a pair of gloves, put them on, and pulled out a miniature blood pressure checker, wrapped it around his upper arm, and began to squeeze this rubber ball connected to the arm band over and over. The band started to tighten to a point where it almost became uncomfortable for Harry. He could feel the same beat in his arm as her heard when he listened to Chris's heartbeat. Doctor Radish recorded a number on a chart, and then started to clean a spot at the bend of his arm with some wet wipes he just opened. The doctor then set aside two small glass test tubes and pulled a _needle_ out of his jacket pocket. He unwrapped that too then said, "Alright Harry, relax your arm and turn away for a quick moment.

Harry turned away pretty quickly at that, and closed his eyes. He felt the doctor feel his arm with his rubber gloved hands and tensed a little bit in anticipation. He felt the cold, metal needle touch his arm and felt the doctor hold it in as he reached over for the vial. Harry's eyes were starting to water; he decided he didn't like needles at all! He felt the doctor pull out one vial and put in another from the pressure on his arm.

"Alright Harry just a few more seconds; you're doing really well!" the doctor encouraged. Harry really hoped it was as the doctor said because he didn't think he could take much more of this. Soon enough, the doctor was finished. He pulled off the vial, carefully pulled out the needle, and pulled released the pressure on the arm band. He then placed a small bandage on the wound and wrapped it up in colorful wrapping that had smiling puppies on it. By now, Harry had tears running down his face and a runny nose.

"You did a great job Harry and acted better than some adults I know," he smiled, "You were very brave today." Harry sniffed and gave a watery smile back. The doctor gave him a few tissues that he had on hand for Harry to wipe his tears and dry his nose. He then handed the watery-eyed boy a small lollipop as a reward for being so brave. As Harry unwrapped the candy, he maneuvered around the boy to get his arm band back. Harry didn't really notice as he was happy sucking on his candy, a privilege he didn't get often.

The doctor moved over the where Vernon was sitting, taking of his gloves as he went, and said, "Your Harry has to be the calmest child I've ever taken blood from; you should be proud. The results of the tests we'll do on his blood and urine will be back in about 2 weeks. Feel free to call back to the office if you have any questions. Make sure he gets a bit of rest and a big meal in him," he gestured to the boy sitting on the table, "and make sure he gets some fluids to replace the bit he lost; the amount of blood that I took may looks like a little, but for him it's quite a bit. He may be a bit drowsy for the next 24 hours." Right as the doctor finished saying that, Harry let out a huge yawn.

Dr. Radish turned to Harry and said, "Alright Harry. Stay awake for me now; I'm going to run and get you some juice and cookies." Harry jumped awake at that but yawned again after the doctor left. A minute later, the good doctor handed the tired boy his snack and bit him goodbye.

On the way home, having finished his snacks, Harry fought his body to stay awake. However, this was a futile attempt, as he soon fell into the land of dreams where needles where never invented. When Vernon arrived back home, he turned around to yell at the boy to get out but discovered him sound asleep. With his eyes closed and face completely relaxed, he looked so peaceful Vernon couldn't bring himself to wake him up. He reminded him of Dudley when he was at that age.

He unbuckled the sleeping child and picked him up under his armpits and laid the boy's head on his shoulder. Carrying the boy inside, he put him on the couch to sleep off his ordeal after taking off his trainers and jacket. He'd have to give the boy the weekend off from his chores; he wouldn't want him to pass out on him again. Though Vernon had to admit to himself, the boy wasn't so bad.

-Line Break-

A/N: Hey! I'm back with another update. I have to admit that I was excited to write this chapter. I hope I didn't bore anyone. Please review as I would love to know if you see _**any**_ grammar mistakes or misspellings as I do not have a beta-reader. Also, I hope that the dialogue was believable; I did my best to look up some British lingo but might have made a mistake here or there with some Americanisms.

Also, I tried to make the doctor's visit as realistic as I could. I'm not a medical student or anything relating to the medical field for the matter. Most of what went on in the scenes was what I remember from the doctor's visits that I had as a child and from my experiences giving blood. For anyone that is medically inclined, feel free to tell me if I did something incorrectly so I can fix it. To be honest, I didn't expect the checkup to go for as long as it did, but after it did I felt this was a good place to end it.

A bit of math for you: There is about 76.7 mL of blood per kilogram in a four-year-old child's body; Harry weighs about 18 kilograms (40 pounds). Multiply = 1380.6 mL of blood in Harry's body or 1.38 L. This equates to 2.916 pints of blood (for any of you blood donors out there you give about a pint every time you give blood). According to a few things I found online, taking 1-5% of a child's blood is considered safe. So, 2.916 x .05 = 0.1458 pints (or .069 L or 69 mL since there are 1000 mL per L). Two tubes of blood = 20 mL. 20mL/1380mL = 1.4% of Harry's blood was taken.

Not sure why I shared that with you guys, I thought it was interesting. I also like math every now and again. I also wanted to make sure that I didn't have the "licensed doctor" take too much blood that might endanger a child.

Fun fact: The adults reading this story have around 4.5-5.5 L of blood running through their bodies, which means you have about 3.6 times more blood than Harry. I thought that was pretty cool; it's amazing how much one grows in 14 years.

Happy Reading,

Michael


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Learning**

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office going through the usual paperwork that always seemed to accumulate at the beginning of a school year: the usual letters from parents making sure that their children were alright, the monthly letter from Cornelius Fudge asking for his assistance on one matter or another, and a few letters from the International Confederation of Wizards (ICW) asking for him to come in to sign off on a few laws. While these letters may not be unusual for a politician to have, they were odd sitting on the desk of a school's headmaster; however, this school's headmaster was special. He was Albus Dumbledore, defeater of Grindelwald, Chief Mugwump of the ICW, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, an influential governing body of Wizard Society in the UK.

To say the least, Dumbledore was constantly on the move with his busy schedule with only enough time to have his meals with the students of his beloved school, sometimes not even then.

"Oh Fawkes, why can't these people do things themselves? Why do they always need bother _me_?" The phoenix chirped in a repeating tone, as if he was laughing at his friend.

Dumbledore chuckled back at his friend, "At the least I certainly hope that nothing else needs my attention today," right as he said that one of the multitude of knick-knacks scattered around his office began to ring in alarm. Dumbledore sighed, "It would seem that I spoke too soon." Walking over to the device, the old man realized that is monitored young Harry's health; the young boy must be in distress! Grabbing the device, he quickly called Fawkes over to him to teleport him to the boy's location, which given by the device at a tap of a his wand a second earlier.

Disappearing in a flash of flame, he reappeared in an alley. Stepping out of the alley, he noticed he was in the muggle world and quickly transfigured his clothes into something less ostentatious than his wizarding robes. Looking around he noticed what appeared to be a doctor's office. He didn't see anything that was overtly dangerous but walked up to the secretary anyway.

"Hello, my name is Albus Dumbledore; I'd like to inquire about a young boy named Harry Potter. Has he been to this establishment?"

The woman looked at him dubiously, "And just who is asking? That information is private." Dumbledore sent a subtle confounding charm toward the woman; he didn't have time for this.

"I'm actually his grandfather," he chuckled, "I was just concerned about him."

"Right…of course. He just left with his Uncle after his appointment was finished. He had his blood drawn for a few tests and had a full physical according to the doctor's notes in his file," she said with a blank look in her eyes, looking over the file.

"And where would I find…this Doctor Radish?" the long-bearded man asked. She pointed to the door to Dumbledore's left. "Right. Thank you for your assistance. Oh, may I have that file please." She handed it over before blinking and answering the phone that just started to ring.

Looking for the doctor was pretty easy with a simple point me spell; he found the man eating lunch in his office. The physician was quick to notice the old man barge into his office, "Hello sir. My name is Doctor David Radish; what can I do you help you?"

"Ah, I'm sorry for the intrusion. I just have a few questions for you," he sent his second confounding charm of the day at the man to expedite the questioning, "Where is Harry Potter's blood? He was here earlier for a checkup according to your secretary." He couldn't have the boy's blood out in the world, who knows what kind of trouble someone could do with a magical's blood, especially if they were a magical with bad intentions.

"All blood samples are kept in a cooler in the lab so the blood doesn't get contaminated or spoiled. It's just down the hall to the right."

"Thank you very much. You were a big help but before I go…Obliviate! You will forget ever meeting Harry Potter; all previous obligations to the Dursley family or Harry Potter are henceforth void. You will forget this visit ever happened," the doctor nodded in a daze and mumbled incoherently.

Dumbledore quickly followed the aforementioned directions to Harry's blood; he found two glass tubes of the stuff. The old man noticed a lot of other vials in the "cooler," and marveled at the bizarreness of muggles. Why would anyone voluntarily give up their blood? It was unnatural! Regardless, he vanished the samples with a wave of his wand to protect his unknowing charge from possible dangers. Afterwards, he left the clinic and apparated to Privet Drive.

The neighborhood was really quiet; again, Dumbledore marveled at muggles. How could they all be happy living in such boring houses? At least his longtime friends, the Weasleys, had a house with _personality_. Looking around, he found the house where he deposited young Harry on that tragic night and rang the doorbell.

A few seconds later, the door was opened by a tall, lanky woman who Dumbledore immediately recognized, "Ah, Petunia! How have you been? Well, I hope. Can I come in? I have a few things to discuss with you."

She stared at him for a few seconds before exclaiming, "What are _you_ doing here!? Showing up unannounced like all those other freaks with your unnaturalness; does _your_ kind not have any manners!?" She looked out past the old man's frame and noticed Lisa Smith at Number 6 staring at her through her window; Dumbledore was quickly pulled in afterwards. Following the woman to the kitchen, he sat down at the table before conjuring up some tea for the both of them.

"I'm sorry to intrude so abruptly, but I have some things to talk to you about young Harry. While I understand that sending him to the doctor's may be necessary, I have to request that you do not allow them to pull his blood in the future. Magical blood is very powerful in the wrong hands and can be dastardly for the owner of the blood. I'm sure you don't want to put your beloved nephew in undue danger," Dumbledore leaned in close, "Please consider the _consequences_ of your actions in the future, for the sake of your family. I cannot stress this enough."

The wizened headmaster looked a Petunia for her answer. "Of course sir, we'll be sure not to do so again." She barely had any idea of what he was talking about. Blood? What? She just nodded in slight fear of the man.

The man smiled before standing, "Well, I'm glad that's cleared up. Thank you for your hospitality; I'll just see myself out." He walked out the backdoor where he was sure no one could see him, before calling Fawkes to bring him back to his office.

-Line Break-

An hour later, Petunia saw her husband come in with a sleeping Harry on his shoulder. She waited for him to put him on the couch in the living room before frantically pulling him upstairs where they couldn't be overheard by the children in the living room.

"Vernon! That old wizard, Dumble-whatsit, came to our home and _threatened_ me!" she exclaimed.

Her husband was speechless for a second before shouting, "What!? How dare he? Who on God's Earth gives him the right to threaten my family at our own house!?" Vernon's face was turning purple in rage and a large vein in his neck started throbbing, "What did he say? Why did he threaten you now after not showing his blasted face for five years!?"

His wife tried to recall what had happened, "I don't know! He just came in and spouted some nonsense about the boy's blood and the doctor, and then he went out the back and disappeared! He said something about there being consequences for our family."

"I'll show him consequences! Next time he shows up, I'll blow his head off!" He showed his wife the shotgun that he kept in his closet and where he kept the bullets. "If he ever shows up here again, you know what to you do. We will protect our family!"

Soon after that exclamation, Vernon began to calm down. He had control of his life and he could protect his family from _them_. His greatest fear was seeing his family harmed; he loved them all so very much, even that blasted boy had started to grow on him after their visit to the doctor. If nothing else, Vernon was a man's man who would do anything for his family to protect them.

Petunia seeing her husband calm down, hugged him tightly before starting to cry. That stupid old man had constantly ruined her entire life! He had taken her sister away at eleven, he had gotten her killed in some stupid war along with the rest of her family, and now he was threatening her family. She wouldn't have it! She would defend her baby with her last breath. _He_ wasn't going to ruin her life again. She cried for her sister, for her family, and for herself.

"There, there pet. Everything's going to be alright," Vernon did his best to comfort his wife before going downstairs to check on his son. He was watching one of those action television shows; he guessed it was popular with the kids these days since he seemed to see it on a lot every time he came home from work.

"Hey, there's my boy! How've you been today, Dudders?"

"I've been okay, Dad. Just been watching the telly. Oh, Mum made bacon sandwiches for lunch today; I had two all by myself!" he finished proudly.

"Ah, that's my growing boy," the rotund man commented proudly. He looked on at his son, who was happily ignoring his father in favor of the television show that had the hero doing a roundhouse kick on the bad guy's face. Vernon then looked toward his nephew, the cause of all of his problems. He was still sleeping like the dead, passed out boneless on the couch despite all of the noise. That blasted, windblown hair of his was still sticking up all over the place yet it managed to fit his face pretty well. Vernon let out a small smile; for better or for worse, the boy was still his nephew and he'd protect him from his own kind if he had to.

Looking up he saw his beautiful wife descending the stairs, her eyes dry and completely composed. That's what had made him fall in love with her in the first place: she was a fighter. He would know as it took him a month just to get her to go out with him. He couldn't help but smile in remembrance.

Vernon got up to help his wife make lunch for the both of them, something he hadn't done since they had started dating.

-Line Break-

It had been nearly two years since the incident with Dumbledore and he hadn't been seen since, to Vernon and Petunia's great relief. As a result, life at the Dursleys went mostly back to normal. Vernon continued his work at Grunning's Drills doing his best to make the factory more efficient to make more drills. Then maybe, he could actually get a raise on his already substantial salary; more money certainly wouldn't hurt his family, especially since Dudley would be finishing primary school in a few more years and would have to attend the best private school in the area, Smeltings Academy.

As for Harry, he was excited to be starting his fourth year of primary school. He had just turned eight-years-old though he didn't look it. He still kept his boyish appearance of a four-year-old, something his Aunt and Uncle weren't really happy about but accepted it as something that was just unique to him. He still stood at 3 feet tall (~91 cm) and 36 pounds (~16.32 kilograms). He wasn't overtly skinny, nor was he overweight like his cousin. The green-eyed child still wore his round framed glasses, though is clothes had changed a bit. After four years of wearing the same hand-me-downs that Dudley had worn when he was three, his Uncle finally got tired of looking at his bedraggled appearance and decided to take him to a thrift store to buy him some proper fitting clothes for his eighth birthday. They managed to get him a few shorts, trousers, shirts, sweaters, and a new pair of trainers all for 40 pounds, something Vernon was quite happy about.

Harry figured that that was one of the advantages of never growing up: you never had to buy new clothes that often, if ever. The small boy would take every advantage he could get as he didn't have many. He always got confused with the Kindergarten students by the teachers at his primary school whenever he went to a new grade. After three years, it was really starting to get on his nerves. He was eight-years-old! He shouldn't be with the younger kids anymore. Although, seeing Ms. Sullivan– as she was the teacher he was usually brought to by the hallway staff - every year was always nice. She still remained his favorite teacher. The woman would always laugh, give him a bit of candy for his trouble, and send him back to his correct classroom with a note. Harry still loved school though; the never-ending amount of knowledge to be learned still astounded him.

So, it came as quite a surprise to him to say the least when his Aunt told him the night before the first day of fourth grade he wouldn't be going back to school for the foreseeable future.

"Wha…What do you mean I can't go back?" Harry asked forlornly. At his question, his Aunt grabbed the back of his shirt up and guided him up to her room where she stood him in front of a full length mirror.

"What do you see boy?" she snapped.

Harry looked into the mirror and just saw himself and his tall Aunt behind him. She had a pinched face, "I just see me and you Aunt Petunia," he turned and looked up to her.

She looked at the mirror before replying, "I see an eight year old boy who hasn't grown up in four years. I see a boy that isn't normal. What would we tell the people at your school? The teachers? They would tell use to take you to a doctor but we can't because of _that_ blasted man," she muttered the last bit under her breath, but standing right under her Harry heard the last bit.

"Who is that man?" he asked.

"Don't ask questions!" she snapped, "You're not going back to public school and that's the end of it! You will be homeschooled by me, and we will go to the library on weekdays while Dudley is at school. You will have weekends off to do as you wish after you finish your chores." She left the room to go have dinner with the rest of her family.

"Come downstairs if you want something to eat," she called back.

Harry just stared at the mirror. He didn't look at himself in the mirror much. The boy raised his hand and the child reflected back raised his. Looking himself over in the mirror he noticed that his hair was the same as it ever was, black and messy. That was usually all he got to see in the bathroom mirror. Looking at his face he noticed that his eyes where huge with the magnification from his glasses and very, very green, almost glowing if he were to be honest with himself. He smiled as he would for a picture at school – the ones his relatives never bothered to buy – and two rows of pearly white baby teeth reflected back at him.

His stomach growled, reminding him that his Aunt had said something about dinner. He ran down the stairs, leaving his reflection behind, hoping that his ravenous Uncle and Cousin had left him something. He was relieved to find out that they had made him a plate before they started eating. Mumbling a "thank you," he ate his fill.

-Line Break-

The next morning his Aunt woke him up at 7 am, gave him some toast and eggs for breakfast, and off they went to the Little Whinging Branch Library. The building was impressive; it loomed over all surrounding buildings at a towering five stories. It had long exterior overhands to protect its visitors from rain and snow, had great arches over the doorways, and monumental pillars holding everything up. It was the best library in the world in Harry's opinion.

His Aunt led him through the revolving doors into the main lobby where a woman manned a desk with a line of visitors checking out books. Harry followed his Aunt to the back of the line. Eventually the line shortened enough that they could be helped by one of people at the desks. It would seemed that the woman there when they arrived had called for backup.

Walking up to one of the library's employees Petunia said, "Good morning. May I get two library cards, one for me and one for my nephew here," she pointed down to Harry. The blonde library looked down at Harry, who hid half-way behind his Aunt, giving a small wave to the woman. The librarian smiled at him.

"Of course, ma'am. I'll just need a bit of information about you and your nephew and you'll be checking out books in no time," she said cheerily. After asking for their names, address, date of births, and other bits of information to get in contact with the family, the librarian handed Petunia two library cards which had each of their names written on them in sharpie.

After thanking the woman, Petunia led her nephew up to the directory, looking for a section for textbooks or reference books. Finding what she was looking for, she went to the elevator to go to the fourth floor. The textbooks in the far corner were organized by grade level, from primary school to secondary to university level. Petunia pulled out some fourth grade texts, one for each subject: math, science, reading, literature, and social studies.

She handed the pile of books for Harry to hold and made her way to the romance section on the second floor where she picked out a book, found a comfy chair, and pointed Harry toward a table, "Sit there and study each of those books for one hour. I'll be here reading," she sat down into the armchair and began to read.

Harry climbed up into his chair and began reading through the first chapter of his favorite subject: science.

Five hours later, Petunia got up and said, "Let's go home boy. We'll have lunch then go pick Dudley up from school. Bring your books with you; we'll check them out at the front desk."

Harry quickly piled all of his books up and followed his Aunt to the stairs. They were only on the second floor so it was faster just walking down, though that was debatable to Harry. His arms were starting to feel like jelly; textbooks were really heavy, no wonder they kept copies at the school.

The stairs looked really intimidating to Harry, he made a few steps down before he stumbled. The small boy managed to catch himself on the railing; unfortunately, his books weren't so lucky.

"Oh you clumsy boy," his aunt exclaimed. She began to pick up a few of the textbooks before handing two of them back to Harry, "Don't drop them this time."

Happy that he didn't get yelled at, Harry followed his Aunt down the stairs at a much easier pace. They both checked out their books at the front desk and made their way home for lunch.

-Line Break-

Harry didn't like homeschooling. It had been three weeks and the routine hadn't changed since day one. It certainly wasn't as fun as normal school (it was just reading all day long); his Aunt always just sat in that same chair every day reading her book. She had a new one every two days, though at least one of them each week must have been for her book club that met every weekend at the Dursley household. After looking through his fifteenth lesson in his math textbook, he was stumped on long division. There were just _way_ too many steps and he just couldn't get the same answer that the textbook got. He looked over to his Aunt, maybe she could help him. She was supposed to be his "teacher" now right?

Nodding, Harry got up with his textbook and walked over to his guardian, "Aunt Petunia," she looked down at him over her book, "Could you help me with this math problem? I don't understand why I keep getting it wrong…" He pointed to the problem.

She looked down at his emerald eyes, Lily's eyes, begging for her help through those big glasses. Taking a look at the glasses, she noticed that they were starting to look really beat up after all this time. Maybe she should do something about them.

"Aunt Petunia?" At the sound of his voice, she realized that she had been staring and snapped out of it. She grabbed his textbook from his hands along with the paper and pencil tucked inside and set it in her lap. She then grabbed the boy under his arms and lifted him up to the armrest of the chair to sit and listen while she began to explain how to do the problem, "It's simple. All you have to do is these few steps and they work for every single division problem…"

After going over several problems and letting Harry try a few he finally exclaimed and smiled, "I get it! Thanks Aunt Petunia!" He hugged her around her neck; this had to have been the first time she ever made such contact with the boy. She hugged him back in slight shock. Did her grudge against her sister really extend so far where she couldn't even acknowledge a time when she had hugged her own nephew? She couldn't believe it; there had to be another time, there just had to be.

She couldn't think of one and it crushed her. She had let down her one and only little sister all because of petty jealousy.

"Aunt Petunia," the muffled voice snapped her out of her trance for the second time today, "Can you let me go now? I need to finish my Maths."

"Oh," she let him go, "Right."

He grabbed his textbook from her lap and went back to his table where all of his other books were stacked. Petunia stared after him.

-Line Break-

That evening Harry had just finished helping his Aunt prepare dinner. To his surprise, she was actually calling him by his name. It was really unusual since she usually just called him "boy." It was a nice change.

A few seconds after Harry had finished setting the table, the doorbell rang. The bespectacled boy looked to the door and wondered who it could be at this house. His Aunt left the roast she had pulled from the oven on top of the counter to rest before she went to answer the door.

Curious as any child, Harry followed her and looked around the door and gasped.

"Hi Harry! Long time no see."

-Line Break-

A/N: Well then. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I'm sorry it's going so slowly. Don't worry, we'll be getting to Hogwarts within the next couple of chapters. Speaking of which, What house would you guys like Harry to be in? Or based on what you've read so far, what house do you think Harry _belongs_ in. I'll make a **poll**. **Please check for it on my profile**.

Oh, before I forget to ask, what did you guys think about Petunia and Harry's interaction? I'm not quite happy with it, but I think it's about as good as I'm going to be able to get it.

Please leave a review so I can know what you guys think!

Thanks for reading,

Michael


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: A Giant**

A/N: I don't usually do an Author's Note at the beginning of a story, but I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has added this story to their favorites, alerts, communities, or even taken the time to review. It makes me happy to see every notification that I get. For this chapter, I'd like for you to keep in mind that Harry's former school is very small – like a few rooms per grade level small – so it would be very likely that his Kindergarten teacher might be concerned if he doesn't show up for three weeks straight. Thanks!

-Line Break-

"Hi Harry! Long time no see."

"Ms. Sullivan!? What are you doing here?" Harry asked incredulously as she was allowed in by Aunt Petunia.

"Well, it had been three weeks since I had seen one of my favorite students," she smiled at him, "so I grew a bit concerned and decided to give your home a call asking where you were. Your Aunt here asked me to come over to see how your education is going since she was worried she wasn't doing well enough to not ruin your education."

She bent down to look at Harry down on his level, "I can guess why you were taken out of school but I won't ask since that's not why I'm here. Tonight we are going to do a few things to make sure you really know your stuff. Why don't you bring me your textbooks and we'll meet back up in the kitchen so I can catch up on all you've learned, alright?"

Harry ran to get his things from where he left the in the living room and hurried to the kitchen where his former teacher and Aunt were. Harry stood on his tiptoes to place his books on the kitchen table and climbed in a chair next to Ms. Sullivan grinning, happy that his favorite teacher was here.

Skimming through his books, the brown-haired teacher tried a bit of small talk with her newly re-acquired student, "So Harry, how have you been? Are still as sweet as I remember from four years ago? My little classroom helper." Harry blushed, "I've been good Ms. Sullivan."

"Now, are these the only books that you have?" Harry nodded back, "Oh no, that just won't do! You need some books to read for fun; books about dragons, fairy tales, mysteries, and magic. They may not be real but reading books for fun is what brings comprehension, vocabulary, and literacy. They are very important. I want you to promise me that you'll look for books the next time you go to the library. Can you do that?"

"Okay Ms. Sullivan. I promise."

"Pinkie promise," she held out her pinkie.

"Pinkie promise," Harry held his pinkie up to hers.

"Cross your heart, hope to die, stick a needle in your eye?" Harry giggled showing his pearly whites but pinkie promised saying, "Okay."

"Excellent! I hope to see a book when I come back next week. Now, let's get started on this review…"

-Line Break-

Ms. Sullivan came back every week and no matter what Petunia tried to pay her, she always declined saying, "I volunteer my time all the time; what's another hour or two on the weekend with my favorite student."

Before he knew it, Harry had read hundreds of books over the years from fiction to nonfiction. He loved reading the books by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, etc.) and C.S. Lewis (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe series). His textbooks got really boring after reading such fun books, but Ms. Sullivan kept him on track with her weekly reviews.

Oddly enough, the week that Ms. Sullivan started the tutoring, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia insisted on Harry getting Dudley's spare bedroom, a room where the majority of his broken toys were kept. The ebony-haired boy was surprised by the sudden change but was delighted nonetheless.

Ms. Sullivan was quick to find out that despite Harry's appearance, he was quite brilliant. He picked up on all of the concepts _very_ quickly. Honestly, when 1991 rolled around and Harry was nearly 11, she was sure that he was easily secondary school level, far beyond what his years and definitely his appearance, would suggest. Despite his intelligence, Harry still stayed spirited and childish through his stories and interacting with Ms. Sullivan. Honestly, the woman could swear he turned invisible whenever the boy wasn't in the mood for his studies…

-Line Break-

Over the years, even his relatives had changed a bit. His Aunt Petunia actually called him "Harry," though the bespectacled child didn't know what caused the change; it seemed like it just happened over night. She even took him to a proper eye doctor to get him a new pair of glasses, a black pair of thin-framed, square glasses. They were so much better than the beat up, round old glasses but he still kept them around if he ever broke his newer pair.

His Uncle Vernon didn't change that much, but he did change. He no longer yelled at Harry as much and he never manhandled the small boy anymore, to Harry's great relief. And, to teach his son a bit of responsibility and give him a bit of income, he decided to assign Dudley a few chores around the house during the week. If he did them, he got paid and got to do whatever he wanted on the weekend. If he didn't, he was stuck at home doing the chores he didn't do during the week. The rotund boy was quick to notice that when his parents were happier when he did his chores, and when they were happier he got more surprise gifts. Vernon even signed his son up for a junior boxing club to help him lose his stubborn "baby fat."

Harry was pretty happy with the way his life was going; while he wouldn't ever be able to do some of the things that many adults take for granted: driving, reaching a high shelf, walking outside without being harassed by other people asking where "his mommy was," that last one was particularly annoying, he was satisfied. He was satisfied that he had people who cared for him, even if it was hard for them to show it. He was happy that he was doing well in his studies. The only thing that he needed to make his life perfect would have been a friend that was his own age to call his own.

A week before his birthday, Harry found an odd letter in the mail addressed to written in emerald-green ink on heavy, old fashioned parchment. No one could possibly have a reason to write to him right? Curious, he opened the letter:

-Line Break-

HOGWARTS SCHOOL _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

-Line Break-

It was a curious letter to be sure. Magic, really? Did these people really think he was stupid? There was no such thing as magic. Walking back to the breakfast table, he showed the letter to his Aunt.

She paled before showing the letter to her husband, "Vernon it's _them_. What do we do?"

"We tell them he's not going, of course. Tell them we decline the acceptance. The boy's going to go to a normal school with none of this magic nonsense," the man said with finality.

"Who is them Aunt Petunia? Isn't it just a prank? There's no such thing as magic, you said so," Harry inquired.

"You read the letter, then?" Petunia inquired.

"Well yeah, it had my name on it," Harry replied, with a face that screamed "duh."

The woman sighed before saying, "Harry we have something to tell you," before bringing him to the living room. He sat down on the couch she gestured to. She took a seat next to him before beginning.

"Harry, magic is real," the boy stared at her before laughing.

"Aunt Petunia, you shouldn't tell jokes; they're not that good. If magic existed, why don't we see stuff about it on the news? Or in the textbooks?"

"It's because the society is very secretive. The only people who know about it are people with magic or are related to people with magic. Your mother was magical, just like you are, though she died in a war that happened within your society. She, along with your father were killed by a dark wizard," Petunia explained.

"I thought you said my parents were killed in a car crash?"

"I said that in the hopes that you wouldn't turn out like my sister, but looking at you now, it's hard to believe that that's possible anymore."

As Harry sat there and thought about this new revelation, Petunia mused at the surrealism of this situation. She never imagined that she would be having this conversation with her nephew. She had always believed that they would just come for him one day and she wouldn't have to deal with the boy again. But as he grew up, Petunia started to get more and more attached to the young, sweet boy. While they never game him much, he was always thankful for what he had. He reminded her so much of Lily; she was just as kind as a child and an adult, always trying to make her happy. Though, she never gave her a chance; perhaps this was fate giving her another chance with Harry.

"You'll be going to this school," Harry glanced up at her, "People came to our house to explain magic to Lily and I imagine that someone is going to come here to explain magic to you. I remember them saying to Lily that if she didn't go, her magic would start to lash out at those around her. She would be unsafe to everyone around her and even herself. Even if we told them no, I don't think our word would mean much to them since your Uncle and I are not magical; their – your – society is completely separate from the normal world."

"Oh," Harry said intelligently, "Then what do we do Aunt Petunia?"

"We wait."

-Line Break-

So, they waited. They waited for an entire week, and on the day someone finally arrived he was having breakfast with his Aunt. His cousin and ran out with his friends and his Uncle had gone to work.

While finished up his egg and cheese toastie, Harry heard a couple of loud knocks at the door.

"I got it," Harry got up, put his plate in the sink to wash later, and walked to the door. When he opened the door, Harry couldn't help buy gape. At the door was a torso, no it was a giant, there was no other explanation.

"Aunt Petunia!" Harry called, "Someone from the school is at the door!"

His Aunt came running in before inviting the giant of a man inside. He wore a large overcoat that looked to be made out of animal hide and long trousers with huge black boots. He face was covered with a black beard and hidden behind his eyebrows, were little black eyes.

"Hullo. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. I'll be escorting young Harry to Diagon Alley to get his school supplies. Now, if ya don' mind me askin', where is the young fella?"

At his Harry spoke up, "I'm right here Mr. Hagrid."

"Harry!?" the man's eyebrows rose up into his black hair, "What happened to ya? Why didn't ya grow up?"

"I don't know," Harry shrugged, "I just kinda stopped growing. Um, didn't you come for something?" the boy asked trying to change the subject.

"Um, right. Oh, before I forget," He dug through is coat pockets and pulled out a ruffled owl and a piece of paper and a quill with ink. The large man wrote a quick note before tying it to the owl's leg. He opened the door and threw the owl into the air where it flew off.

"Oh, here you go Harry," he pulled out a box from one of the numerous pockets, "Happy Birthday!"

The birthday boy opened the box to find a small cake with pink frosting and green lettering spelling, _Happy Birthday Harry!_ The boy in question smiled up to the giant, "Thanks Mr. Hagrid."

"Ah, none o' that, jus' Hagrid is fine; it's what everyone else calls me. Well, it's a bit early to eat that cake; you can have some after we get back from Diagon Alley. Would you like to come with us Mrs. Dursley?"

"No, but thank you Hagrid," his Aunt looked nervous around the large man, "Harry, behave yourself and be careful alright?"

"Okay Aunt Petunia. Harry walked over to the door, grabbed his school list off of a side table, and slipped on his trainers before turning around, "I'm ready to go Hagrid."

"Alrigh' then. I'm guessin' this is the firs' time anyone from the magical world has seen ya, so how about I show you a bit o' magic," he walked outside with Harry running excitedly behind him. The boy gave a wave to his Aunt before she closed the door behind her. He guessed she still hadn't gotten over the trouble magical world brought her.

When they got to the curb, Hagrid pulled out a small, tattered looking pink umbrella. There was no way that thing would cover him, so Harry wondered why he had it. The large man held it out in front of him and a few seconds later there was a large BANG down the street before a large, purple triple-decker bus stopped in front of the duo and the door opened. Well, that answered that question.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus for the stranded witch or wizard, my name is Ernie and I'll…"

"Alrigh', alrigh'. I've heard it before Ernie. Two for the Leaky Cauldron," Hagrid interrupted and handed over the required money, some silver coins, for Harry and himself.

Harry smiled up nervously at the man before climbing up the stairs after the large man. They both took a seat in the back where not many other people were sitting. After they had sat down, the bus shot off with another BANG and Harry started to slide around the bench seat. When the bus stopped at the next stop, he flew out of the seat, much to his embarrassment.

"Sorry abou' that Harry, should have warned ya," Hagrid commented sheepishly.

The boy quickly climbed back into his seat and grabbed hold of Hagrid's large coat as the man didn't seem like he was going to be moving anywhere before the bus took off again. After three stops, the call for Diagon Alley was finally called, much to Hagrid's relief and Harry's chagrin, he was actually beginning to enjoy the ride now that he wasn't sliding all over the back of the bus. He imagined it's what a roller coaster was like.

Hopping off the bus, he saw a slightly run down looking pub with the words _Leaky Cauldron_ sprawled across the front. When the duo walked in, Harry couldn't help but stare at the strange assortment of clientele. Hiding behind the girth of Hagrid, Harry looked around a spotted a woman with a hunch back and warts all over her face. To his left, he spotted a normal enough looking man but he was wearing a turban on his head for some reason. Finally, looking to the front he saw an old man with white hair and a hunched back manning the counter wiping a glass with a less-than-clean looking cloth. Overall, the place was dirty and slightly stuffy from the burning fireplace in the corner of the establishment. It wasn't the best first impression on someone entering the Wizarding world for the first time.

"Hagrid! Back for your usual?" the man behind the bar asked.

"Not today Tom," he walked up to the counter with Harry close on his heels. It didn't seem like anyone had really noticed him in the dim lighting. "I got a bit o' business in the Alley I need to do. Hogwarts, ya understand." Hagrid puffed out his chest proudly.

"Ah. I understand. Well, you know where to go," the man, Tom, waved to the back. As the pair walked to a door to the left out the back of the pub, the old man started a bit at the young boy following the giant. The man went back to "cleaning" the glass reciting the mantra that had saved his life multiple times from the peculiar and unique folk of the Wizarding world that ended up coming through his pub, _Don't ask questions. Don't ask questions. Don't ask questions._

Upon entering the threshold of the doorway, Harry couldn't help but ask, "Hagrid, are you sure this is the right way? This just looks like a storage closet…"

"Ah, Harry this is where you have to have the right touch," he winked and pulled out his pink umbrella from he tapped one specific brick with the tip of his umbrella. After a few seconds, all of the bricks started to move aside revealing an entryway large enough for at least two Hagrids shoulder to shoulder, needless to say the giant walked right though with ease with Harry not far behind.

The boy couldn't help buy look around in awe as the play was just so, so bizarre! There were shops that advertised "newt eyes" for only ten sickles a kilo. There was another shop that looked like it exclusively sold brooms, much to Harry's astonishment. At the end of the alley was a large white marble building; it towered over the rest of the alley so that even someone of Harry's stature could see the formidable metal doors on the front of the building through the hustle and bustle of the crowd.

"Hey Hagrid," Harry called, running up to stand next to the large man, "I looked at my list and none of it looks like it would be cheap, and, well, I haven't any money. How am I going to pay for everything? I don't think my relatives will."

Hagrid laughed, "You don't think yer parents left ya with nothin' do ya? Ya have yer own vault under Gringotts Bank," he pointed to the large marble building, "Ain't no place safer, 'cept for maybe Hogwarts o'course."

Harry looked at the building in a new light. It must have been pretty good for such a reputation. Walking up to the steps to the doors, that reputation was further reinforced when Harry spotted two figures wearing armor with long spears on either side of the doors. When the doors were opened, Harry spotted a poem warning thieves to basically stay or suffer the consequences; it was quite ominous. Walking in, he couldn't help but notice more tall pillars of marble and the sheer size of the place; looking about Harry saw old looking figures with pointy ears and noses counting and weighing precious minerals, gems, and coins.

"Hagrid, what are they?" Harry asked.

"They're goblins Harry; don't ever cross a goblin, migh' be the last thing ya ever do," Hagrid warned, Harry gulped when one of the goblins gave him a toothy smile, looking down on him. He was quick to hide behind Hagrid's leg, something he seemed to be doing pretty often since he entered this strange world.

"I need ter make a withdrawal from Harry Potter's vault," Hagrid requested the teller goblin, who leaned over his desk to look down at Harry standing next to Hagrid's leg.

"Does Mr. Potter have his key?" the goblin snarkily requested, looking every inch as dubious of Harry's identity as anyone else would be who hadn't known him for a long time.

Hagrid started digging through is pockets saying, "I got it here somewhere. Ah, here it is," he handed the goblin a small gold key who inspected it very intently before declaring, "Well, everything _appears_ to be in order," looking at Harry again.

Harry watched as Hagrid handed over a letter before whispering something to the goblin who read over the letter before yelling out, "Griphook!" Another goblin dressed in a black slacks, white dress shirt, black overcoat, and bowtie walked out from an office to the left of the duo. He walked up to the pair before being addressed by the teller, "Take these two down to Mr. Potter's vault and take care of this," he handed over the letter Hagrid gave him.

The goblin nodded before saying, "Follow me please." He led them over to what appeared to be a mine cart, though it was much more comfortable than any other mine cart Harry had ever seen. It actually had seats!

The trio climbed in before they started going down into the depths of Gringotts. Harry laughed as he rode down toward his vault, now _this _must have been what a rollercoaster was like; it was far superior to the Knight bus simply because it had something to hold onto. The cart was fast as it swerved into different passages, seemingly knowing where it was going autonomously as Griphook certainly wasn't driving the cart without his hands.

"Vault 687, the Potter Family Vault," Griphook announced as the cart came to a stop. They all hopped off before he asked for the key. Hagrid handed the key down to Harry, who handed it to the Goblin before he opened the door.

Harry gasped. The vault was filled with gold, silver, and bronze coins. It must have been Wizarding money, but it had to have been the most money he had ever seen in his life. He gaped for a bit longer before the goblin coughed in impatience. Hagrid handed the boy a small pouch to fill it with coins before explaining, "The bronze ones are knuts, the silver ones are sickles, and the gold ones are galleons. There are 17 sickles in a galleon, and 29 knuts in a sickle."

Hearing that, Harry filled up his bag with a few handfuls of galleons, 17 sickles, and a few knuts. He figured this would be the most efficient way to carry around his money since he could always get a galleon exchanged into smaller units if he needed. Stepped out of the vault, the doors closed behind him and Griphook handed him his key. Soon they were back in the cart and off to a second vault, where Hagrid asked Harry to stay on the cart.

Griphook didn't say the vault number or anything this time, but Harry saw the number above the vault: 713. The goblin ran his finger vertically down the middle of the door before it started a chain reaction that creaked opened the vault. Hagrid rushed in and grabbed a small package, tucking it into his jacket, and walking back to the cart followed by Griphook.

The ride back up to the surface wasn't as fun as the ride down since it wasn't as fast, but Harry enjoyed it nonetheless. In fact, he was bursting with energy and actually wanted to go back down to his vault just for the ride. Hagrid, on the other hand, looked ill and dizzy as he stepped off the cart. The emerald eyed child didn't think the bearded man would appreciate his idea. Stepping outside of the bank seemed to rejuvenate Hagrid a bit.

He turned to Harry saying, "Be sure not to lose that key of yers. If anyone else got ahold of it, they could do whatever they want to with yer money."

Harry tucked his key a bit deeper into his pocket upon hearing that.

"Now, how about a pick-me-up Harry?" Harry looked up in surprise; Hagrid pointed to a shop named _Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour_, "I need to sit down after that ride."

"Oh, okay!" Harry exclaimed with glee. He had never had ice cream before.

They walked into the shop to discover it pretty crowded but they eventually managed to get their ice cream from a kindly Mr. Fortescue. Harry had gotten small "Exploding Snap" ice cream cone; it was a multicolored ice cream with little bits of candy in it. When you bit into the candy, it "popped" in your mouth creating a tickling sensation. The boy was giggling like the child he looked like for the first few minutes but eventually managed to get used to the flavor. The other patrons smiled in Harry's direction, though he didn't notice. Hagrid got a large cone with chocolate ice cream with chocolate pieces of waffle cone mixed it. They both enjoyed their ice cream in silence before Harry spoke up.

"Hagrid, before you came to the house, my Aunt mentioned my parents being killed by someone in a war. Do you know anything about it?"

"Righ', I suppose you wouldn' know. It was dark times back then; it was hard ter tell who yer friends were and who yer enemies where…" And so Harry was told about how his parents were murdered by an evil wizard called Voldemort over ice cream. A unique experience to be sure.

"But why didn't he kill me?" Harry asked.

"No one knows. The only thing everyone is sure of is that he came to yer house and was never seen again after that. Everyone thinks you did it because of that scar on yer forehead. It's why yer famous. I was there after the attack; a right mess it was. You were cryin' with You-Know-Who's robes near yer crib and yer mum was lying next to yer crib. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to witness," Hagrid explained, getting choked up towards the end.

"Sorry Hagrid. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"It's alrigh'; it's not yer fault," he blew his nose into a big handkerchief, "Anyway, let's get goin'. We still have a lot of supplies to get. We'll start at _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_ since it takes her some time to get them finished."

They stood up from their table, and the leftover trash and melted ice cream vanished, leaving the table spotless. That was pretty handy. The duo made their way to the shop where Hagrid left him saying, "It'll take ya some time to get measured; I'll go grab yer potion ingredients and be back before yer done."

Harry nodded back and walked into the store. He stood near the door for a few minutes before getting tired of waiting and walked up to a blonde-haired woman in a uniform, pulling on her robe to get her attention, and saying, "Excuse me. Can you help me?"

She turned around and looked down, "Oh, hello! How can I help you sweetie?"

"Could I get," he looked down at his list, "three sets of black robes, a black pointed hat, a pair of dragonhide gloves, and a black winter cloak?"

She stared at him, "That sounds awfully similar to the Hogwarts list. Would you mind if I see that list, sweetie?" Harry handed over the school supply list.

"It is. Why do you have this?" she asked.

"Oh, um," Harry had to think fast. He couldn't tell her he was Harry Potter since he was supposed to be famous, "the list is my…my older brother's, yeah. He starting Hogwarts this year, my parents said I can get robes to dress up like him when he leaves. They gave me some money, too." He showed her his money bag and she handed him back the list.

"My parents are with my brother getting his books and wand. They said I could come here and you guys could take care of me," he gave his biggest smile up to her.

"Aww. That sounds adorable; I'll get you all set up. Just hop right up here," she gestured to the stool, "It must be hard for you with your brother leaving for school."

"Yeah. My parents are really excited about it though," Harry said, trying to be as vague as possible.

She measured him around his waist, his chest, and his arms before saying, "Going to Hogwarts is a big deal. It's where you finally start to grow up into a real wizard and learn real magic; I'm sure you'll get to go too, when you're old enough that is." She pulled out a large black robe and threw it over him with it falling past his feet before she started to put pins in it to match his measurements.

After a few minutes, the lady exclaimed, "Alright! All done," she pulled the large robe off of him and he hopped off of the stool, "Be sure to tell your parents to come back in an hour to pick up your robes alright?"

Harry nodded and thanked her before walking out the door to see Hagrid waiting for him right outside. He told the man about the story he had to come up with to get the robes, and the giants laughed before apologizing, "Sorry abou' that Harry. I kinda forgot with how mature you act and all. Didn't really think abou' it." He chuckled sheepishly.

"It's okay Hagrid," Harry laughed a bit himself, it was kind of fun playing a prank on that woman, "So, where do we go next?"

"Well, how abou' we go get ya a trunk so we can carry all of this stuff a bit easier," Hagrid suggested.

So off they went to Edgar's Everyday Trunks, a popular trunk shop according to Hagrid. They had apparently been in the trunk business for generations. Walking into the store a bell above the door chimed and Harry immediately noticed the smell of wood. It was apparent throughout the store, but it was a good smell. It was like standing under a big oak tree in the park, the fragrance just kind of overtakes the surroundings.

Harry was looking around the small store that had stacks of trunks from floor to ceiling along with a few tents in the corner as well.

"Hello! Welcome to my shop. How can I help you today?" A man came out from behind the counter to greet them at the door. He looked from Hagrid to Harry before turning back to Hagrid and asking, "How've you been Hagrid!? I haven't seen you in ages!"

It was quickly becoming apparent to the green-eyed boy that a lot of people knew Hagrid, though he was hard to forget about. It wasn't every day at that you saw an 11 foot tall man (3 1/3 m.).

"I'm doin' well Edgar. Thanks fer askin'," the friendly giant replied, "I need a school trunk…this young fella's brother is starting Hogwarts this year," he gestured to Harry, who was happy that Hagrid had went along with his cover story, though he didn't look entirely comfortable with the situation.

"Ah, I understand," Edgar learned down to Harry, "You want to surprise your brother with a nice trunk, eh? Well, I got the perfect trunk for you to give to your brother," he exclaimed. He ran to the side where a pile of various trunks awaited and looked through the pile with a cursory eye. "Ah, here it is." He pulled out his want to levitate it out from the pile make the trunks stacked on top drop down neatly into the space left.

He brought the trunk over to the duo and placed it in front of Harry, "This is a simple three compartment trunk. It means that it has been expanded on the inside to fit different things," he gestured to three different circular pictures on the top of the chest, "This book emblem here, when pressed, opens the trunk and pops out a single bookcase for all of the books your brother would need in school. This emblem with a shirt on it opens a wardrobe for the school uniform, shoes, trousers, and other such clothing. This last emblem here," he pointed to an image of a broomstick, a piece of candy, and a quill, "hold everything else from a broom to candy to your quills and parchment. Finally, if you touch the top latch with a wand, it'll shrink and apply a feather light charm on the trunk for easy transport.

"And it all comes down to the low, low price of four galleons: one galleon for each compartment and another for the exterior charms that protect it from damage and sneaky roommates trying to get into the trunk," he said with a win, "Well, what do you think?"

"I think it's wicked!" Harry exclaimed, "My brother'll love it." He reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out his pouch. He fished out four galleons and handed them over to the man.

Edgar blinked a bit in surprise at the amount of money that the kid had on him but accepted anyway; what his parents weren't around to stop wouldn't hurt them.

As Hagrid followed Harry out the door with the trunk under one arm, Edgar called out, "Nice doing business with you! Come back anytime!"

When they were out of earshot, Harry said, "Thanks for covering for me Hagrid."

"No problem Harry. Not much else ya could say lookin' like ya do," he rubbed Harry's head, making the small boy stumble slightly and Hagrid apologize sheepishly.

"Alrigh'. Well next stop should probably be for yer books an' the best place to get those would be _Flourish and Blotts_. I'll grab yer books and you can have a look around the store fer whatever catches yer fancy."

Splitting up when they entered the store, Hagrid walked off to the Hogwarts books section and Harry walked aimlessly around through the aisles of bookcases until he stumbled upon a book in the corner of the store that didn't look like it had been touched in years. It was titled _Illusions: Fooling Your Friends and Tricking Your Enemies_. The book didn't mention an author. Intrigued, Harry opened the book to the first chapter:

"Greetings witch or wizard. If you have come into possession of this book then it means that you have the potential to excel in study the art of illusion. Only a few members of magical society have this gift as it takes an extraordinary amount of imagination, will, and ingenuity to pull off successfully. With the art of illusion one can take control of their surroundings baffling the senses of those around them into believing in something that isn't real…"

Deciding to take the book for study later, Harry walked through the store to meet up with Hagrid near the Hogwarts book section, a wall-to-wall collection of every book on the Hogwarts list for all years. Hagrid had just finished up and the short boy followed behind silently, slipping his book into the basket Hagrid carried on his other arm. Hagrid walked up to the counter and purchased the books with a few galleons that Harry had slipped onto the counter when the cashier wasn't looking. After the books were bought, the duo made their way over to their last stop of the day, _Ollivander's Wand Shop_.

The small shop looked slightly run-down on the outside with its yellow peeling letters and dusty display case with a lone wand placed on a purple pillow case. The store didn't look any better on the inside either. It was quite dim inside and walls were covered with thin boxes piling to the ceiling. Out of nowhere a spindly old man appeared from behind the counter, making Harry jump in surprise. Hagrid seemed nonplus about it, seemingly expecting the surprise.

"Ah Mr. Potter. I must say I expected you to show up in my humble shop one day but…perhaps I pictured you a bit taller than you are," he chucked to himself at his own joke.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Ah, the wonders of magic are numerous and mysterious young man; I'm sure you'll discover them as you…grow."

"You could have just said you didn't want to tell me," Harry grumbled to himself.

"Ah Hagrid," Ollivander exclaimed seemingly just noticing the large man in his shop, "Ah Rubeus Hagrid, how nice to see you again. You had an Oak wand, sixteen inches if memory serves. Good wand that one was…"

"Yes, it was," Hagrid responded awkwardly before turning his head in Harry's direction, "I'll leave yer things here Harry; I'm going to run out to get somethin'," the man placed the trunk, the clothes they had picked up from _Madam Malkin's_ before coming to Ollivander's, and a cauldron filled with the various necessities for first year potions that he pulled out of one of his pockets. He was quick to leave the shop.

"Well, let's get started Mr. Potter," Ollivander said, releasing a tape measure that began to measure Harry all over. "All Ollivander wands have a core of a powerful magical substance, such as dragon heartstring, phoenix tail feathers, and unicorn hairs. You will never do as well with another's wand as you would your own."

Waving to the tape measure, it fell to Harry's feet. Ollivander picked a box from the shelf and handed the wand inside to Harry saying, "14 inches, dragon heartstring, rather good for transfiguration though it's rather stiff."

Harry stood there with the wand wondering what he was supposed to be doing with it.

"Well, give it a wave," the old man exclaimed. He gave it a vertical wave and the floor caught fire, which was quickly extinguished by Ollivander.

"Guess that one still had a bit of fire in him," the wandmaker mused, taking the wand back from Harry and handing him another wand, this time one with Unicorn hair. This time the glass in the display case shattered.

"Tricky customer, eh?" Ollivander handed him yet another wand, which ended in a disastrous effect as the ones before it, though with each failure Ollivander seemed to get more and more excited while Harry got more and more disheartened.

Eventually, the old man handed Harry was handed yet another wand, "Holly and Phoenix Feather, eleven inches, an unusual combination but not unheard of."

Giving the wand a wave, the young boy was surprised to find that nothing exploded but rather a warm feeling traveled from his stomach, down his arm, and to the wand where it released a shower of golden sparks. It had to have been one of the best feelings Harry had ever felt.

"It's curious that you're destined for this wand Mr. Potter when the Phoenix who gave the feather used in that gave one other. That feather was used in the wand of the man that gave you that scar." Harry shivered. "You-Know-Who may have gone as dark as you can go, but he did great things, terrible yes, but great. I expect great things from you Mr. Potter, despite your apparent size."

Harry sighed again at the short joke before asking, "How much do I owe you for the wand Mr. Ollivander?"

"Only Seven galleons Mr. Potter. Be sure to take care of that wand; it's a special one."

Harry handed over the money and thanked the man before turning to look at his trunk. Now that he had a wand, he could actually shrink the trunk. Placing all of the items within each of their respective compartments, he placed his wand on the handle and watched in fascination as the trunk shrunk before his eyes into the size of a regular textbook. Picking it up, he noticed that it was made from the same wood and everything. Tucking it under his arm, he walked outside to see Hagrid standing next to the door holding a snowy owl in his hand.

"Hagrid, there's an owl in your hand," Harry deadpanned.

"Yes, Happy Birthday Harry!" Hagrid pushed the owl into the small boy's arms, where it gripped his forearm tight enough to fall off and make Harry wince, but not enough to make him bleed.

"Hello," Harry said to the owl, feeling slightly silly. The owl stared back unblinkingly, "Hagrid what do I need an owl for?"

"Oh, well they're dead useful owls are. They make fer great listeners, they don't need to be cared fer as much as cats, and they can deliver mail to anyone in the world." Before Harry could reply, the owl hopped up to his shoulder and started to try to groom his hair with her beak. The boy giggled at the feeling of the owl trying to fix his hair.

"She likes ya!" Hagrid exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, she does," Harry beamed, "Thanks Hagrid. This is the best birthday present I've ever gotten!" The large man blushed in embarrassment.

"Well best be gettin' ya back to yer house Harry." The boy in question nodded. The two made their way back through the Leaky Cauldron and out the front door. They stepped to the edge of the sidewalk before Hagrid spoke up, "How about you do it this time Harry."

Harry pulled his wand out of his pocket before holding it out in front of it, being careful not to wave it. He didn't need such a spectacle on the busy streets of London. He stepped back before there was a BANG and the Knight Bus appeared. It seemed that Ernie wasn't on his still shift anymore; someone named Stan Shunpike had taken over.

"Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey please," Harry requested politely to the man. Before he stepped on, he asked the snowy owl to fly back to his house since he doubted she would enjoy the bus ride. He handed Stan the required sickles for himself and Hagrid before they hopped on. Making their way to the back of the bus again, Harry found it strange that there were now beds in place of the seats. He wasn't sure if anyone would be able to sleep on the beds with the bus moving around so much.

He hopped onto a bed while Hagrid sat down on an adjacent bed. The bus shot off with a bang and Harry ended up rolling around on the bed as the bus made its twists and turns. Though instead of following off like he expected, he was met with a wall of resistance that didn't allow him to fall off.

By the time the bus had made it to Privet Drive, Harry had had the time of his life! The bed was like his own personal bounce house and he didn't even have to bounce himself! The bus did that for him. In Harry's opinion, the bus was ten times better at night than during the day. Hagrid didn't seem to like it, but Harry figured the man didn't like a lot of moving vehicles.

The walk back to Number Four helped Hagrid get back control of his stomach. When they made it to the door, Harry said, "Thanks for taking care of me today Hagrid. I had a lot of fun."

"No problem Harry. Always happy ter help," he reached into his pocket before pulling out a ticket and giving it to the curious boy, "This is a ticket fer the Hogwarts Express. Make sure ya have it with ya when ya go to Hogwarts. I'll see ya on September the First!"

Harry waved goodbye as Hagrid walked away. He stepped inside and greeted his Aunt before heading up to bed. He had had the longest day of his life and was exhausted. Making sure to open the window for Hedwig for when she got there, he placed his glasses and shrunken trunk on the side table before passing out in blissful sleep.

-Line Break-

Wow! This chapter is long! It's the longest chapter in this story, and I really hope that you enjoy it. I'm sorry I spent so much time in Diagon Alley; I just really seem to enjoy writing about shopping though I hate the chore myself most of the time. I guess just writing about magical shopping makes it more entertaining.

Keep in mind that I update chapters as soon as I finish them so it has not been beta'd or edited much other than when I go back over it looking for spelling errors though I don't catch everything. I have this problem when I type, since I type fairly fast, that I leave off letters of words sometimes. So, if you catch one, please let me know so I can fix it! Thanks!

Happy Reading,

Michael

P.S. I've changed the title of the story to The Illusion of Youth since I think it matches the story a bit more.

P.P.S. **PLEASE VOTE IN THE POLL ON MY PROFILE! I'd really love to know your opinion on what house you think Harry should be in!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Hogwarts**

Harry woke up to his window open and the sun shining its first rays onto his face. He turned his head away from the sun trying to get back to sleep before he heard a "hoot." There was a snowy owl in his room. Oh right, he got her yesterday from Hagrid. He had nearly forgot with how surreal the experience was. There really was a whole different world out there, just like his Aunt had said. His parents never died in a car crash, they were murdered. And, to top it all off, he was famous for something he can't remember. He was thankful that no one could recognize him while he was at Diagon Alley other than Mr. Ollivander, but he was just really creepy like that.

Looking up at his new snowy owl, he marveled at the pure white feathers, which the owl seemed to enjoy quite a lot. Harry sat up and held out his arm next to the headboard and on the unspoken command, the creature hopped onto his arm.

"How about I give you a name? I can't just call you owl," Harry mused. The bird looked at his hair before hopping onto his shoulder and preening his hair again.

"Do you really have to do that?" Harry asked with a slight whine in his voice. The old hooted reproachfully at him, as if telling him off, and resumed its work at attacking his hair into some sort of order.

"Hmmm, well, about that name…how about Gizmo?" The snowy owl hooted in disdain, as much as disdain you can communicate into a hoot anyway.

"Jerry?" Nope. "Sprout?" Nope. "Jake?" The owl bit his ear.

"Well, you don't seem to like boy names…how about a girl name." The owl, as Harry just realized was a 'she,' hooted in satisfaction.

"Sorry but how was I supposed to know you were a girl." She stared reproachfully back at him unblinkingly. Harry got the message loud and clear: he should have just _known_.

Looking through one of his magic books for inspiration as the as-yet-named owl got back to grooming his hair, Harry stumbled upon a name in his history book.

"How about Hedwig?" he inquired. It looked like she was thinking about it before she bobbed her head in agreement. The boy beamed in happiness.

"Hedwig it is!" He reached his hand up and rubbed the newly dubbed Hedwig under her neck. She seemed to really enjoy that but she eventually managed to get him to rub the back of her head, which she seemed to enjoy even more judging by the jelly that the owl seem to melt into in his arms. He gave her a gentle hug so as to no mess up her feathers, and put her up back on his headboard. She hooted tiredly and ruffled her feathers before tucking her head under her wing to sleep. The boy smiled again at his new friend before heading downstairs for breakfast, which he could smell wafting up the stairs.

"Good morning Aunt Petunia," Harry said exuberantly.

"Good morning Harry. Are you ready for breakfast?"

"Yup," Harry nodded, "Anything I can do to help?"

His Aunt thought for a moment before pointing to the toasted bread, "How about you butter some toast to go with the eggs and bacon?"

"Okay Aunt Petunia!" Harry walked over to the sink to wash his hands, fished the butter tin from the refrigerator, and got to work at tackling the small pile of toast.

He finished at the same time his Aunt did with the rest of breakfast. Calling the rest of the family in from the living room, Aunt Petunia finished setting the table for the meal. Vernon and Dudley immediately started to dig in while Harry and Petunia, who didn't eat as much as the other two – Petunia was dieting and Harry was just small, waited for the pair to grab their fill before digging in. After the meal, everyone went their separate ways. Dudley went to his room to play the video game he had yet to beat, Vernon went up to his room to prepare for work, and Petunia and Harry started to clean up the dirty dishes. The emerald-eyed boy had it pretty easy just drying the dishes Petunia handed him.

Finishing up, Harry thanked his Aunt for the meal and ran up the stairs to try to start cracking open the world of magic. After an hour, he heard his Uncle head down the stairs and his car start up: he had gone to work. Ten minutes later, his reading was interrupted from a knock at the door and his Aunt shrieked at him to get downstairs right away. Mentally marking his place and closing the book, Harry got up and met his Aunt at the foot of his stairs.

Standing in the living room was tall woman with black hair wearing emerald green robes. She had her hair done up in a tight bun and she stood in a stiff posture with her face a mask of seriousness. Seeing Harry she gasped and walked over to him, "Harry Potter!? Why, you haven't aged a day since I last saw you!" She looked him over as if trying to find something that would negate her observation. She muttered, "I was warned by Hagrid but I never thought…"

Harry looked at the woman who stood there in slight shock, "Sorry, but who are you? Are you a witch? And what do you mean the last time you saw me? This is the first time I've met you…"

The woman snapped from her musings before responding, "Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners. My name is Minerva McGonagall; I am a professor at Hogwarts. As for your last question, I used to watch you as a child to make sure you were growing up properly. It was the least I could do for your parents after they died," she glanced over at Petunia but said nothing, thinking back on her early observations before she had dropped Harry off at his relatives with Hagrid and Dumbledore.

"Oh, well okay. But what are you doing here?" Harry questioned.

"After Hagrid got back to Hogwarts after taking you shopping for your supplies, he told Professor Dumbledore about your...," she looked down at him, "situation, who insisted I should bring you to Hogwarts before term starts to make sure you are completely healthy."

Petunia spoke up, "If the old man is so concerned about his health, why did he threaten my family after Harry received a check up in London five years ago!? He's a ridiculous man!"

McGonagall looked startled before her face took on a look of anger, "How dare you speak of Professor Dumbledore that way! He's a great man; he taught me nearly everything I know about magic and being a good person! He's a role model for witches and wizards everywhere!"

"Then why did he come to my home after he got his checkup telling us to never take him to a doctor again? Why did he not allow us to try to look after our nephew without _your_ interference!?" she spat out.

"What do you mean Aunt Petunia? What happened five years ago? I remember going to the doctor, kind of, but I don't remember seeing this Dumbledore man," Harry chimed in.

"You wouldn't have. He appeared while you and Vernon were returning from the doctor's office. After he came, we couldn't take you anywhere to try to find out what was wrong with you, or else he would come with his _consequences_."

"Surely, this is all a mere misunderstanding. Surely an upstanding wizard such as Albus Dumbledore wouldn't do such a thing," she said dismissing the matter trying to get back to the reason she came here, "Now Harry, would you please come with me? I'd like for our school nurse to examine you to see if she can do anything about your situation."

Harry looked up to his Aunt wondering what to do.

"You may as well go. I may not ever want to see that man in this house again, but I can't deny that _they_ would know more about your situation than us," his Aunt said with some reluctance.

After hearing this, Harry looked to Professor McGonagall, "Um…would I need any of the things I got from Diagon Alley. I'd really like to start reading the school books. I want to learn as much as I can before I go to Hogwarts for real."

McGonagall seemed to think for a second before saying, "I do not believe you will need to bring anything with you. The examination should not take very long."

Nodding, Harry turned around and headed up the stairs to his room to put on his shoes and to tell Hedwig that he was leaving for the day to get a checkup at Hogwarts. Making sure to check his clothing wasn't in disarray, he headed downstairs where he met McGonagall at the door.

"Bye Aunt Petunia. I'll see you later!" Harry called to his Aunt. She waved goodbye as she closed the door behind the pair.

"So Professor McGonagall, are we going to take the Knight bus?" Harry asked with some anticipation. He wouldn't mind riding that bus again.

"Of course not. That monstrosity is not for respectable witches and wizards," Harry's face turned downcast at this, "We will be apparating. Apparating is an ability where a witch or wizard can disappear in one location and reappear in another," she explained, after seeing Harry's look of confusion.

"Please grab my hand and hold on tightly," she held out her hand.

Seconds after grabbing her hand, Harry felt an intense squeezing sensation that seemed to press in all around him. He couldn't breathe or talk or do anything but bear the sensation. When he thought he couldn't take anymore, the feeling lifted and they appeared in front of a pair of mighty gates that lead to a large castle. Harry didn't see any of this as he had collapsed and fell on his bottom trying to catch his breath.

Professor McGonagall looked down at him before helping him up.

"I apologize. I should have warned you," she said with a tiny, almost imperceptible smile. Harry had a feeling that he had just been pranked, by a teacher no less.

Harry turned away from the professor after thanking her and gasped. The castle was huge! This was Hogwarts? There's no way he'd ever be able to find his way! Just looking at the windows facing him, he counted at least seven stories, not counting the towers.

"Well Mr. Potter, please follow me and we'll get you checked out as soon as possible," she gestured with a wave of her hand.

Quick to follow his new professor, Harry jogged to keep up with her quick steps. Noticing this, McGonagall slowed her pace so as to not overwork the young man. The situation was surreal, even in the realm of magic as a person's magic usually kept them as healthy as possible, magical illnesses non-withstanding. Something as simple as growing up shouldn't have been a problem for Harry's magic. Could something be wrong with his magic? Professor Dumbledore had said that there wasn't anything wrong with the child before they dropped him off with the Dursleys, though maybe he missed something.

Harry walked along in silence staring in awe as the huge gates allowed them passage into the majestic castle. When the pair made it to the entrance, Harry was once again flabbergasted at the sheer size of the doors; they must have been at least a ton each, but Professor McGonagall opened the doors with a simple wave of her wand. The black-haired boy honestly wished that he had more than two eyes so that he could see more of the inside of the castle. Everything was magnificent. The portraits and stairs even moved! Magic was awesome.

Sadly, they didn't get the opportunity to transverse the stairs, much to Harry's disappointment, as McGonagall led them the infirmary tower on the first floor of the castle. Upon entering the Hospital Wing, Harry was immediately hit with a sense of cleanliness and organization. The shelves were all stocked with various bottles with all sorts of odd liquids; Harry guess that these were potions that he had started to read about. Looking around, he noticed a few hospital beds and a small office towards the back.

"Poppy! Are you here?" McGonagall called out into the empty room.

A voice called out from the office, "In here Minerva. I'll be out in a moment." Soon enough, a woman walked out of the office door. She wore red robes with a white apron and hate; on her white apron was a pin that looked like an hourglass with twin snakes winding around it.

"Good morning Poppy. I have a patient for you," she gestured to Harry who fidgeted a little at the matron's piercing gaze, "This is Harry Potter. Mr. Potter this is Madam Poppy Pomfrey, the matron of Hogwarts. Hagrid told Albus who told me about his peculiar condition and he requested that he be immediately evaluated by you to assure that he is completely healthy before attending Hogwarts."

"Alright then," the matron said slightly nonplused. She had seen weirder in her time as Hogwarts' sole nurse; those troublesome Marauders were really something back in the day. "Come sit on one of the beds young man. This shouldn't take a moment." Harry followed the woman over to the nearest bed and climbed up, making sure to not mess up the bed with his shoes.

"Alright, lie back and this will be over in a jiff," she waved her wand over Harry while muttering under her breath. The boy felt a tingling sensation moving from the top of his body to the bottom; it didn't hurt, just tickled a bit. He forced himself to bite back a laugh though the nurse seemed to notice and smiled at him. She was enjoying this.

A few minutes later, Madam Pomfrey stopped waving her wand and started to hum to herself, thinking. Then she spoke up, "Well Minerva, I can't seem to find anything physical wrong with him. He's perfectly healthy for the age group he looks like. He's not overweight or underweight. His magic hasn't settled like other 11 year olds, and it doesn't look like it will anytime soon. However, that only means that he may experience small cases of accidental magic in times of extreme stress or emotion just like any other child. As for the cause of his condition, my surface and in-depth scans have not turned up any unusual results," she concluded.

"Well then, that is a relief," a voice called from the doorway. Looking up, Harry spotted a bizarre looking old man. He had a long white beard that went down past his waist and vibrant blue robes with twinkling moons all over the garment. He had a pair of twinkling blue eyes hidden behind half-moon spectacles that rested upon a slightly crooked nose. All in all, he looked to be a peculiar character to the small boy.

"Ah, young Harry I presume," he looked over to the boy in questions with those twinkling eyes, "My name is Albus Dumbledore, and I'm the headmaster at this lovely school," he smiled amicably.

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Harry responded politely.

"I must say, Hagrid brought me quite a story with you, young man," he walked to the other side of the bed as he paced, "In all of my years of living, I have never seen someone as fascinating as you Harry and I have seen quite a bit if I do say so myself," he winked at Harry before looking over to Minerva and Poppy as if seeing them for the first time.

"Why, Minerva, when did you get here?"

The woman in question stared at her boss for a full three seconds before deadpanning, "I have been here for the last half-hour Albus."

Though the man didn't seem to hear her as he had turned back to Harry making her sigh is exasperation at her long-time mentor and friend, "Now Harry, I need you to be completely honest with me; this is a very important question." The boy nodded seriously waiting for the question.

"What," he paused, "is you favorite kind of jam? I am rather partial to raspberry myself." He looked at Harry in anticipation.

"Oh, well, I really like strawberry jam, sir," Harry replied with a growing feeling of confusion.

"Ah, a classic for sure," he nodded sagely, "Well, I must be off. Important matters to attend to. Goodbye young Mr. Potter; I will see you on September the first no doubt." He nodded to the two ladies standing on the other side of the bed before taking his leave.

"Professor McGonagall…," Harry began.

The woman cut him off, "If your question has anything to do with that man, you should know that he has been known to play practical jokes. He's brilliant most other times." The four-year-old lookalike stared at her dubiously.

Harry turned to look at the Matron, "Madam Pomfrey, you said that there was nothing wrong with my body or my magic, right?" The woman nodded. "Well, I was wondering if there was anything that could help me grow up magically."

"Well, yes, there is, but I wouldn't use it on a child who hasn't reached puberty age yet, as using it prematurely could result in stunted growth and wild, uncontrollable magic. It should never be used on a child as young as you Mr. Potter. I can't even imagine the consequences."

Harry looked slightly downcast at the news; guess he was destined to be small. Well, on the bright side, he got to see Hogwarts before everyone else _because_ he was small. He wondered if any of the other students got the same privilege. He doubted it as he did not see another soul in the castle while coming to the Hospital Wing with Professor McGonagall, let alone another student, though he couldn't rule out that another student could be on another floor.

"Well Mr. Potter, based on the results of Madam Pomfrey's tests, I believe we have wasted your time. So, since you are here, how about I give you a quick tour of Hogwarts before you come back on the first?" the strict looking woman suggested.

"That sounds great professor," Harry said, hopping out of bed, "Can I ask you a question first?"

"Of course you can, Mr. Potter."

"Where's the bathroom?" Harry asked anxiously. He never did get the opportunity to go before breakfast this morning.

Looking at the boy who was hopping back and forth on his feet she said, "How about I take you? It'll probably be faster that way. Follow me please." She took off at a moderate pace so her longer legs didn't outstrip her small charge. Harry followed as quickly as his bladder would allow. They took a grand total of three turns before they finally reached the boy's restroom, much to Harry's relief. Stepping into the nearest toilet stall, the first thing he noticed was that the toilet was much higher than at home. However, as soon as he thought that, a stepstool appeared for him to use. Puzzled but happy, the boy finally got to relieve himself before walking to the sink. Turning around, he noticed that the stepstool had disappeared and had reappeared near the sink that he was walking toward so he could wash his hands.

Walking out of the bathroom at a much slower pace than when he walked in, he greeted Professor McGonagall with a smile.

"Well Mr. Potter, how about we continue that tour?" the Professor asked.

Harry happily obliged with a chipper, "Okay Professor McGonagall!"

The eleven-year-old loved the tour. He got to see nearly everything, except for the house common rooms. He saw the black lake, the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the Hogwarts grounds that seemed like it was a huge park with trees and a few tables scattered about (most likely for studying during term), the courtyard in the center of the school, the Hogwarts Library, and the entrances to Professor Dumbledore's office and Professor Mcgonagall's office (should he ever need someone to talk to during term). Harry honestly wasn't sure he would remember everything for sure after a month, but the moving stairs were certainly something else. The moving portraits certainly didn't try to give him any landmarks either.

"Professor, you said that you couldn't show me the house common rooms, so are their houses in Hogwarts?" He couldn't help but imagine a house like the Dursley's behind one of the many doors of the castle.

"Yes, there are houses in Hogwarts. They are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. You are sorted into one of the houses for your stay at Hogwarts in your first year and each house is like your family here at Hogwarts. The Head of House is similar to the parent at home; if you ever have any problems, you should visit your head of house to try to get them resolved. While I am the Head of Gryffindor House, should you get sorted into another house for your stay at Hogwarts, you may still come to me with your problems if you wish.

"You will spend a majority of your time with your house mates. You will have meals together in the Great Hall, you will have classes together, and you will most likely see your house mates a good deal in the house Common Room," she paused, "Speaking of the Great Hall, Mr. Potter, I don't think we have been there. How about we grab a bite to eat before I take you back home?"

"That sounds great professor!" Harry exclaimed. He was starving, having not eaten for six hours.

Upon entering the Great Hall, Harry could understand what it was 'Great.' The ceiling seemed to go so high that you couldn't see where the edges met the wall at the top; the ceiling itself was a magnificent reflection of the outside sky. It made the room seem even more endless than it already was. For all of the space, there was only one table in the Great Hall: it was a large, round table that sat solely in the center of the room. On the table was a mix of silverware, plates, and glasses all sitting on top of a white tablecloth with the Hogwarts' crest hanging down the sides of the tablecloth. The young boy was made speechless yet again at the majesties of the magical world.

Harry followed his future Professor to the table and upon sitting in a chair, a menu appeared in front of him. Perusing through the menu as well as he could, given his limited food experience, he decided on a simple cut of beef roast, potatoes, broccoli, and steamed carrots. Looking over to Professor McGonagall, he saw her whisper into her plate before a small cottage pie appeared on her plate with a glass of orange-ish looking juice. Harry copied his elder by whispering his meal into his plate along with a request for a glass of water; ten seconds later his meal appeared before him with very little fanfare. He was slightly disappointed having expected a flash of light or small sound.

Taking a bit of his roast, Harry found it was the best piece of roast he had ever had. It was cooked to fork-tender perfection and seasoned just right. He grinned in satisfaction and started to eat with a bit more gusto. He also noticed halfway through his meal that the portion sizes for his meal and Professor McGonagall's were different. This meant that someone had prepared the plates to complete customization to the recipient. He didn't know how the cook would know that he wasn't another member of the staff like this table was probably for. Speaking of which, where were the other staff members?

"Hey Professor McGonagall, where are the other professors? Shouldn't they be coming to eat soon?" Harry asked, giving in to his curiosity.

The woman dabbed at her mouth with a napkin after swallowing before responding, "Well Mr. Potter, I believe some professors are still away on summer holiday and others simply take their meals in their rooms as some prefer the convenience to walking all the way down to the Great Hall for a meal. Finally, a few professors are experimenting with the magic of their respective masteries to expand their knowledge and experience. I am the Transfiguration professor and received my Mastery two years after graduating Hogwarts. To stay on top of things, so to speak, I research the theories of Transfiguration during the free time provided by the summer months when students are at home."

"Can you get more than one Mastery, Professor?" Harry asked, curious about how this new world worked.

"You can get more than one Mastery for the different divisions of Magic; however, it is notoriously difficult because it requires obtaining an apprenticeship with someone who already has a Mastery in the subject you are studying for your Mastery. Most of the time witches and wizards are content with one Mastery or even just their Hogwarts education," she looked at the inquisitive boy that reminded her so much of another student of hers before smiling, "I would not worry about Masteries at the moment though Mr. Potter. You still have many years before you will need to start thinking that far into your future."

It seemed that getting a Mastery in a subject was very similar to getting a Doctorate in the muggle world. It was great to know that he was going to be taught by professors that are at the top of their fields. It felt like he was going to University already!

After finished up his meal, Harry turned to Professor McGonagall who had finished hers a few minutes earlier while he was thinking over the similarities and differences between a Doctorate and a Mastery.

"Thank you for lunch Professor; I guess you are going to take me back home now?"

Thinking for a bit, the woman came to a decision before standing up, "Before we go Mr. Potter, I have something I'd like to give you. Follow me to my office." She stood up and pushed in her chair which was mirrored by Harry, who caught up with her soon after. The pair reached the office within a few minutes – though the Professor had to help Harry with the trick step that he had forgotten about – and the Gryffindor Head walked straight over to her bookshelf before pulling one off the shelf and handing it to Harry.

"For your many questions – I know you have more – Mr. Potter; I think that this book should tide you over until term begins."

Taking the book from the Professor, the boy looked at the title: _Hogwarts: A History- Extended Edition_.

"Please do take care of that. It is my only copy."

"I will Professor, don't worry," Harry replied sincerely.

"Well then, how about we get you home. I'm sure your Aunt is expecting you soon."

Harry wasn't looking forward to apparating again but followed her out of the office regardless.

-Line Break-

A/N: Please feel free to tell me what you liked and what you hated in a review. Also, please **vote** **in the poll** for Harry's house. I'm currently indecisive.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Return to Hogwarts**

It had been nearly four weeks since Harry had gone to Hogwarts for the first time and he was excitedly awaiting the second visit. Just going to a school for magic still seemed surreal, though with all of the facts and actually visiting the school, he couldn't deny it. Just reading about magic – and trying a bit too – left Harry eager for actual instruction. Surely the Professors at Hogwarts, who are at the top of their fields, will be a pleasure to learn from. Certainly more interesting than the books at the least.

For the past few weeks, Harry had spent the majority of his time in his room going through the pages of his textbooks. He had also been trying to spend more time with Hedwig as well. The snowy owl was comfort to be around. She was very much like an over protective parent, watching over him when he slept from her vantage point on the headboard and constantly trying to groom his hair, despite it being a lost cause. She was a great listener too. Harry tried to teach his winged friend everything he learned from his books – not that she understood all of it – but for his own benefit. Teaching someone a subject was a great way to master concepts of that subject.

Today, though, was relaxation day. Harry had just decided to go to the park down the street and relax on the swing with Hedwig. The park wasn't all that busy since it was mid-afternoon and the day hadn't quite cooled down to more comfortable levels. The park was just starting to shift from summer to fall, but the leaves hadn't quite fallen from the trees. Swinging back and forth looking at the few other kids around the park, Harry wondered if he would make friends at Hogwarts. Sure, he had a few friends before his Aunt pulled him out of primary school, but he didn't really get the chance to spend time with other kids his age, mental age anyway.

"So Hedwig, what do you think? You think you'll make some owl friends at Hogwarts?" She hooted and barked at him.

"I know I'm projecting. I'm just worried you know. What if I can't make any friends Hedwig? Like, even Madam Pomfrey couldn't find anything wrong with me so whatever is wrong with me isn't anything normal in the wizarding world…" A reassuring hoot what the avian's reply.

"Thanks Hedwig. You know you're fantastic right?" Another hoot. Yeah, she knew it. Harry laughed.

-Line Break-

The next day Harry woke up excited as could be. He made sure to check and double check that he had everything that he bought from Diagon Alley. After triple checking out of nervousness, Harry jumped in the shower to scrub himself down and he brushed his teeth before heading downstairs for breakfast. He met his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin at the table, which was pretty quiet as breakfasts go. Normally, Uncle Vernon was complaining about one thing or another, be it lazy co-workers or loud neighbors, but today he was silently eating his breakfast giving a glance to Harry every now and again.

Breaking the silence, Aunt Petunia asked, "Are you excited to go Harry?"

"I am! I can't wait to go; I hope I make some friends," he finished softly. And the table descended back into silence. Dudley was quick to leave the table to get back to his Saturday morning cartoons. Sitting at the table was just too boring!

Harry finished eating as fast as he could too so he could leave the awkwardness. He could tell that his family was trying to be supportive but couldn't quite make it all the way. Washing up his dishes, he thanks his Aunt for breakfast and hopped back up to his room to prepare whatever else he could to keep himself busy. At 10 o'clock he told Hedwig to meet him at the train; he had absolute confidence that she could find him since she would be disappointed if he thought anything less of her. She was a _very _proud owl.

Harry shrunk his trunk that basically held everything he owned and made his way down the stairs to say goodbye to his family. Since he didn't want to make Uncle Vernon drive him with them sitting in even more silence, so he just deciding the best form of transportation in his opinion: the Knight Bus. None of the adults seemed to like it all that much, but it was just too awesome to not like in Harry's completely objective opinion.

"Bye Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, Dudley," Harry said with a wave at the doorway. His Aunt stopped him with a quick hug, a "stay safe" whispered in his ear, and two sandwiches for the train ride. He hugged her back in thanks before heading out the door and down the driveway, hearing the door shut behind him. Holding his wand out in front of him for a second before putting it away; he made sure he had some money for the ride before he heard the familiar BANG of the Knight bus.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus for the stranded witch or wizard, my name is Ernie and I'll be your conductor this morning. Where can we take you today?" the very practiced response flowed out of the conductor's mouth.

"Hi!" Harry smiled enthusiastically, "Can you take me to Kings Cross station, London, please?"

"Right," Ernie said taking his money, "Aren't you a bit young to ride by yourself?" the man inquired.

"Yes, yes I am," despite his response, Harry made his way up the steps and onto one of the chairs on the bus, handing the man a few sickles to cover the cost of the ride on the way. Ernie stared after the peculiar child but whether the kid's parents were irresponsible or not wasn't his problem; he had been paid.

Sitting down on the chair, Harry smiled. He loved this wonderful bus. Making sure to grab hold of the armrests on the chair, since he didn't have a Hagrid to hang onto this time, Harry braced himself for the fun ride. With a BANG the bus shot off and Harry giggled to himself. Yep, the bus was definitely better than anything a roller coaster could do, not that he had ever ridden a roller coaster of course.

Four stops later, Harry had arrived at King's cross station at half past ten. The station was huge! He had a hard time navigating through the crowd due to his short stature but thankfully no one actually tripped over him…that would probably hurt him more than the person that tripped over him. Looking around, the boy found platform nine and platform ten but not 9 ¾. _Hogwarts: A History_ had mentioned that a station was built in the 1850s for students to get to Hogwarts by train and that it was hidden; however, the book said absolutely nothing about _where_ the platform was.

Hoping that the magical world made at least a little bit of sense, Harry decided to sit himself on a bench near platforms nine and ten to try to spot someone magical. Surely the family would have a lot of magical looking supplies and maybe even an owl or a broom. Swinging his legs back and forth, Harry waited. He also pulled out his ticket for the train hoping that it would show something that he hadn't see at home.

Looking up, Harry noticed a slight flickering on the brick pillar between platforms nine and ten. Curious, the magical child got up from his seat and walked toward the wall. Looking closely at the wall, Harry ran his hand along the brick and was surprised to say the least when his arm went _through_ the wall. He quickly pulled his arm back out. After thinking about it, Harry figured that there was no way this wall was dangerous; honestly, where else could the platform to a magic school be other than behind a magic wall? Deciding to go all in, Harry put both hands on the 'wall' and push only to find himself falling through very easily. Catching himself on his fall with his outstretched hands, he looked up and saw a sign proclaiming "Platform 9 ¾."

It was a welcome sight for sure. He was getting nervous as the time until 11 o'clock was ticking down. Checking the clock on the wall, he saw that it was 10:50. Seeing the time, he rushed to the train through the throngs of families toward the giant red steam train. Figuring that all of the other students would take the compartments closer to the front of each car, Harry headed toward the back of middle car and managed to find an empty compartment.

He sat himself down and looked out the window at all of the families on the platform saying goodbye to their children, not to be seen again until Christmas. He sighed, thinking back to his family; they weren't as affectionate with him as they were with Dudley but they weren't as bad as they used to be. They actually acknowledge his existence, and judging by Aunt Petunia's goodbye, they care about his wellbeing (at least a little bit). Harry knew that his family wouldn't love him, but he was okay with that.

Getting himself out of his depressing thoughts, the emerald-eyed child looked back to the families, specifically the children. He saw a family of redheads with _a lot _of kids and looked to his left at a bushy haired girl saying goodbye to her family. On the right side of the platform was a blonde haired boy with his parents, also blonde; they all looked very posh and serious. Next to them was a round-faced boy with what appeared to be his grandmother. Tiring of his people watching, he started to wonder where his owl and friend Hedwig was.

After that thought, he saw a snowy owl swooping outside of his window; he quickly opened it while standing in his seat so he could reach the latch. After he managed to get the window open, Hedwig swooped in a flurry of feathers and a gust of wind.

"Hedwig!" Harry exclaimed happily. She landed on his seat and hopped onto his leg and up his arm when he held it out. She immediately started to groom his hair, a sign of affection that she loved to do along with nibbling on his ear. Harry giggled and sighed in loving exasperation, rolling his eyes.

Soon enough, the train let out the loud classic whistle signaling that it was about to depart. Every student out on the platform hurriedly gave quick hugs to any straggling relatives and rushed to the train to catch up with their friends after a long summer. Soon enough, there was a knock at the door before it was opened by a tall pink haired woman wearing black robes with a yellow emblem on the front.

"Hi is there anyone in…" she cut off her question when she saw Harry, "Well, hello there sweetie. What are you doing on the train?" she asked kindly, as one would talk to a small child.

The startled boy couldn't help but stare at her interesting pink hair before replying, "Oh, hi. I'm going to Hogwarts."

"Oh really little munchkin?" she asked in jest sitting in the seat across from him, "Are you sure you're old enough? Do your parents know you're here? What's your name by the way? My name is Tonks, _just_ Tonks."

Harry was a bit disgruntled by the nickname but answered anyway, aware of how his appearance makes others react, "I'm Harry Potter, and I'm eleven years old. I'm just…vertically challenged is all," he finished with a quiet mumble in slight embarrassment.

Tonks looked at him skeptically before she saw the edge of his famous scar on his forehead. Her eyes widened.

"I see; it's nice to meet you Harry!" she said. She didn't really know what else to say; it wasn't often that she had to speak with first years as a seventh year. Trying to think back to her days as a first year, she quickly thought of a conversation topic, "So Harry, are you excited for Hogwarts? Do you have any questions about the houses? I can't tell you much about the other houses but I can tell you a lot about Hufflepuff since it's the house I'm in."

"I'm super excited to go back to Hogwarts! I can't wait to learn more about magic and maybe…maybe make some friends too," he said with a shy smile. Hedwig hooted from his leg, "Oh, this is Hedwig. She was my friend too." Tonks couldn't help but think that the boy hugging his owl was just adorable. "I don't really have any questions about the houses; I figure that from what I've read in _Hogwarts: A History_ some item determines what house I'll be in. So, I guess whatever house it puts me in, I'll be happy."

Looking at the time, Tonks realized that she had to meet with the Head Boy and Girl and the other Prefects in the front car so she had to bid Harry goodbye, "Well Harry; I really hope that I see you in Hufflepuff. Have a good ride," she smiled kindly at him before closing the door. She didn't really _want_ to leave the small boy alone again but she had to go. The boy-who-lived wasn't really what she expected him to be but he was still the boy-who-lived.

"So Hedwig, did you like her? She seemed pretty nice to me." The owl nuzzled his face. Harry laughed and petted her head. Hedwig was truly the best birthday gift he had ever gotten.

After a few minutes of staring out the window at the passing scenery, there was another knock on the door before it opened again to sniffling bushy-haired girl.

"Do you mind if I sit there," she pointed to the seat across from Harry, "Some mean boys pushed me out of my compartment." She dragged her trunk in behind her.

"Yeah, sure go ahead," Harry said, "Oh, my name is Harry by the way. It's nice to meet you."

Not forgetting her manners the girl introduced herself, "Hello Harry. My name is Hermione Granger. I'm going to be a first year," after this she started to pick up a bit of steam in her enthusiasm, "I was so excited to get my letter. It's magic! I couldn't believe it! What about you? You look...you don't look old enough," she finished with as much tact as she could.

Harry laughed and said, "Thanks for trying Hermione. Just so you know, I am eleven; I just stopped growing when I was younger. I've been this tall for the last six years or so," he said with a grin.

"I'm pretty excited about Hogwarts too. I got to go visit a month ago to get a checkup about all this," Harry gestured to all of himself, "The school nurse, Madam Pomfrey, couldn't find anything wrong with me. Anyway, the school is really, really beautiful. You'll love it when you see it."

"I know what you mean, about the school I mean. I've read about it and saw some pictured in _Hogwarts: A History_. It looks so…so magical," not being able to come up with an appropriate enough word, "I've memorized all of my schoolbooks of course; I just feel so behind all of the kids who grew up in the magical world. Surely they must be so far ahead in their education!" she finished worriedly.

"Well Hermione, I think I can safely say that none of the other students decided to memorize their textbooks, so I think you're on solid ground," Harry said with a laugh, "I haven't memorized all of my books, but I made sure to read them at least. I'm probably about a month ahead of the curriculum since I've read five or six chapters ahead in each of the books."

"Visiting Hogwarts must have been so exciting," Hermione said, "What was it like?"

"Yeah, it was exciting! After Madam Pomfrey looked me over, Professor McGonagall took me on a tour through the school. I got to see a lot of the rooms that we have classes in, the grounds, and the Great Hall. It was awesome; I can't wait until we get there to stay," Harry finished enthusiastically.

They continued to talk for the next hour or so about everything and anything: Harry's experience being homeschool, Hermione's experiences actually in school, magical theories that they had read about, what house they were interested in, and what Hermione's parents did.

"My parents are dentists," the girl stated proudly, "They're not magical like me but they're still wonderful. We go on trips during the summer; it's always a lot of fun." With the mention of her parents' profession, Hermione couldn't help but ask, "Do you still have all of your baby teeth Harry? I started losing mine when I was six."

"Yeah, I do," Harry gave Hermione a big grin to show off his white primary teeth, "I never really thought about my teeth before. I guess the adult teeth never grew in."

Soon there was another knock at the door, this time by the round-faced boy that Harry had seen on the platform before the train left.

"Hello, would you by chance have seen my toad, Trevor?" the boy looked tired, probably from going to every single compartment on the train.

"No, we haven't, but we'll help you look, right Harry?" Hermione put forward helpfully.

"Yeah, I'll help you look too. My name's Harry and this is Hermione. What's your name?"

"My name is Neville, Neville Longbottom," He introduced himself hastily, "Thank you for the help."

The trio made their way through the train, compartment by compartment. After the fourth time Harry was asked why he was on the train and what his name was, he decided it was better for Hermione and Neville to go on without all of the questions slowing them down. He made his way back to the compartment. Only minutes after sitting down, the door was opened by a platinum haired blonde that was flanked by two gorilla-like boys.

The blonde haired boy walked in and stated, "I heard Harry Potter is in this compartment, I take it you're him?" The boy looked down at the child look-a-like on the seat; he had heard from an upper year student that Potter was literally a child but he certainly didn't expect it to be true.

"I am…what do you want?" Harry asked warily at the boy's demanding tone, looking toward the two large boys behind him nervously. Hedwig, sensing her owner and friend's distress, ruffled her feathers and glared at the three boys standing in the doorway.

"To see the truth of course, that is, if you really are a midget," he said spitefully, "The famous legend of the Boy-Who-Lived reduced to a mere toddler who, from the looks of you, couldn't even fight off Crabbe let alone defeat the greatest Dark Lord who ever lived." He laughed.

"Who are you to say such mean things? And so what if I'm small! I can still learn just as well any of you can. As for being famous for something I can't even remember, yeah, a real accomplishment," Harry finished sarcastically.

"I'm a Malfoy, Draco Malfoy to be exact. You would do well to remember my name Potter, lest you suffer the same fate as your parents." He gestured to the two boys behind him and said, "Rough him up a bit to make the message sink in." With just this act, he would be a _somebody_ in House Slytherin. Whether Harry Potter was a midget or not, he was still Harry Potter; the legend and the name alone in the wizarding world would do him wonders in his future house. The power plays in Slytherin began as soon as you were sorted according to his father, and he would beat out all of his competition by striking preemptively.

Smirking, he watched as Crabbe and Goyle advanced on the boy as he sunk further back into his seat. When Crabbe reached out to grab his shirt, Hedwig had had enough. She screeched and flew up into the boy's face and started clawing at him with her talons. He screamed and stumbled back in pain. Goyle, seeing his companion scream, growled in rage and went for the bird. In the enclosed space, the heroic Hedwig didn't have anywhere to go and was slapped onto the wall by Goyle. She fell down unmoving onto the seat.

"Hedwig!" Harry cried out and then in anger over his hurt friend he screamed, "How dare you hurt my friend!" He was a sight to behold: a small boy facing down three boys towering over him and easily twice his weight, his green eyes flashing. By then, Crabbe had recovered a bit from his facial mutilation and was rapidly advancing on Harry. He tried to grab a hold of the boy again, but was pushed back by the boy's magic, which was already at a tipping point from anger and fear for his avian friend. Crabbe was banished back into Goyle and Malfoy, whose smirk was wiped off pretty quickly from two one-hundred pound boys slamming into him, knocking him back into the hallway. The sliding door slammed shut and locked after them.

Blinking out his angry stupor, Harry turning to his beloved pet, "Are you okay Hedwig?" he asked softly. She blinked her eyes and hooted weakly. He smiled through watery eyes. Trying his best to determine if his friend was okay, Harry looked her over from beak to talon. He looked for any broken bones but didn't find any, thankfully. Harry picked up Hedwig, sat down in his seat, and held her. She tucked her head under her wing to try to get some sleep to recover from the ordeal while in Harry's embrace. Harry crisscrossed his legs to try to make Hedwig more comfortable by making a makeshift nest with his legs.

Soon after Hedwig had fallen asleep, Harry was hit with a feeling of deep exhaustion from the accidental magic and staying up the night before in excitement and anticipation of going to Hogwarts. Deciding that the wall looked pretty comfortable, Harry leaned his head against it and drifted off to sleep soon after.

A couple of hours later, he awoke to find Hermione and Neville sitting across from him and Tonks sitting next to him chatting away to each other. He lifted his head off of the wall-pillow and let out of yawn revealing two rows of pearly white teeth.

The trio looked over at him before Tonks teasingly said, "Well good morning Munchkin! How was the nap?" She grinned and had to hold in an "aww." The sleepy eyed boy with his tussled hair and a large snowy owl in his lap was adorable!

"It was fine," Harry said, before yawning again. He looked around, "Where's Malfoy and his goons?"

"You mean those boys you pushed out of the compartment? Well, they ran off with their tails between their legs after they couldn't get back into your compartment and I showed up. I unlocked the compartment to find you asleep so decided not to bother you. These two showed up shortly after," she gestured to Hermione and Neville, "They couldn't find Neville's toad so I helped out with a simple 'point me' spell. You'll probably learn about that in third year come to think of it."

"Oh. How long was I asleep?" Harry looked outside to see the sun starting to set.

"Not that long, I don't think. Like Tonks said, we showed up a bit after hear after hearing the fighting so you couldn't have been asleep for more than 2-3 hours," Hermione declared.

"Okay. Thanks for helping them out Tonks," Harry said gratefully. He wasn't really sure if he could call them his friends yet. Could you make friends in only a few hours? He didn't know.

"It's no prob Munchkin. It's what I do," she grinned, "Well, now that you're awake, why don't you tell me everything that happened with Malfoy and his buddies. I'll need to be able to tell the teachers as a Hogwarts prefect you know." Harry started off by telling her about how he had to stop helping Neville find his toad because of everyone's questions slowing them down and coming back to the compartment where Malfoy barged in and started to attack him. He told her about how Hedwig retaliated and got hurt in the process, getting mad then not remembering much after that other than going to sleep.

"I see, well, thanks for your side of things. I got Malfoy's a bit earlier so I'll be sure to tell the teachers what I think happened. Nice talking to you two; I hope to see you in Hufflepuff," she winked, "I'll talk to you guys later." She closed the compartment door behind her.

Harry turned to the pair across from him, "Sorry I fell asleep on you guys," he grinned sheepishly.

"It's no problem Harry," Neville said, "I can't believe you did accidental magic. Most kids stop after nine-years-old. I kind have to wonder if your appearance has anything to do with it."

"I guess that's possible Neville. I never really had any problems with accidental magic. That was the first time I've done magic like that. It was really cool but it made me pretty tired afterwards," Harry commented.

Hermione, eager to put in her two cents, said, "Maybe we should ask one of the professors about it. Hedwig too. We should make sure she's alright." Harry nodded in agreement and looked to friend in his lap.

"Hedwig," Harry whispered. She untucked her head from her wing and hooted softly at him, "Are you okay?" She hooted again at him. Harry assumed that was a yes; he grinned.

After that the trio just couldn't help but talk to each other. The trio had really bonded helping each other out. While Neville and Hermione weren't there when Malfoy appeared, he'd like to think they would have helped if they had been there. Neville talked a bit about what living in the wizarding world was like but he couldn't really provide a good enough perspective for Hermione since he viewed everything as normal compared to Hermione's awe. It was likewise with Neville concerning Hermione's home life. He couldn't imagine getting along without magic just as she couldn't imagine using magic to do all of the chores. It was a stalemate. However, both Harry and Hermione could agree that Neville's first bit of accidental magic was really dangerous and violated many child endangerment laws in the muggle world. The boy didn't really see the big deal since he got Trevor out of the deal and his family was very happy.

Soon enough, while Hermione was explaining the technical details of how a television worked, an announcement chimed throughout the train that they would be approaching Hogwarts within 15 minutes. Hermione jumped up in a nervous panic and told the boys to change in the compartment while she went to the restroom. Harry pulled his trunk out from his pocket and Neville didn't bat an eye as he expanded it to its full size so he could pull out one of his uniforms to change into. Slipping it on over their clothes wasn't a problem for either of the two boys. The robes were fairly comfortable in an odd sort of way; the material was a very soft material that Harry liked quite a bit. Though, the boy did think that this was similar to what wearing a dress would feel like.

Ten minutes later Hermione showed up again dressed in her black uniform, "I'm sorry for the wait; the line for the toilet was ridiculous." Soon, five minutes of silenced had passed with the three friends thoughts directed toward what House they would each get sorted into and if they would lose their friends so soon after meeting them. As they were occupied with their thoughts, the train began to slow down and pull into Hogsmeade station. A voice echoed throughout the train saying that their luggage would be brought to their rooms for them.

Harry made sure that Hedwig could fly up to Hogwarts on her own before heading out with his new friends. After making it out onto the station, the trio heard a booming cry of "Firs' years over here! Firs' years this way now! Firs' years!" Harry was recognized the voice of the friendly giant that had showed him around immediately and was quick to inform his friends, "It's Hagrid," Harry smiled. He had missed the man.

The three first years ran over to Hagrid, who was quick to recognize Harry from just his height; there was no one else he knew that looked like him.

"Harry! How ya doin'? Have a good ride? We'll have to catch up after yer first week o' classes," He bent over to ruffle Harry's hair, nearly knocking him over. Thankfully, Neville was standing right behind him and broke his fall.

"Sorry abou' that Harry. Don't know me own strength sometimes," the man chuckled bashfully.

"It's alright Hagrid. I kind of expected it," Harry laughed, making his green eyes glimmer, "Thanks Neville."

"No…no problem Harry," he was staring at Hagrid in awe.

"Alrigh'! Is everyone here!?," Hagrid asked the gathered group of first years, "Then follow me!"

Harry watched everyone else above second year head off in a different direction. He wondered what was special about the way First Years got to the castle.

"Come on Harry," Hermione called from ahead of him. He ran ahead to catch up with his friends. The group followed the lantern that Hagrid wielded like moths to a flame. None of them wanted to lose their way in the dark, especially when they had no idea where they were.

"Alrigh'. Here we are," the group of first years had been led to an array of small boats, "No more than four to a boat." Harry, Hermione, and Neville all climbed into the boat nearest to them. Another boy joined them in the boat; he introduced himself as Ernie Macmillan. He was taller than both Hermione and Neville, had blond hair, blue eyes, and was really broad-shouldered. He was pretty quiet after the boat started to move. Every boat slowly made its way through the still waters of the lake, and Harry was sure that he saw a large tentacle 'wave' at the passing boats.

"Heads down!" Hagrid yelled when the boats reached a low overhang. Harry turned around, wondering what Hagrid would do if even first years had to duck to get through, but he didn't spot the man as unbelievable as that could be. The short boy didn't even bother trying to duck; he would barely bump his head standing next to a kitchen table, let alone sitting down on a boat. Everyone else ducked though. Looking around, Harry marveled at the shining stillness of the lake and the cave they entered lighting up from the reflection of the moonlight bouncing off the water and hitting the walls.

One of the reflections hit someone in the cave. Someone not in a boat. The person was waving a stick like outline, a wand most likely, over each and every student with their head down. Harry wasn't really sure _what_ was happened, but knew it couldn't be _bad_, just probably not something that would help him if they were doing it so secretly. Using his small size to his advantage, Harry ducked down under his seat – a raised platform of wood – and tucked his knees and ducked his head to wait until he was out of the cave. When they made it out of the small cave, Harry heard a voice.

"You'll get yer first look at 'ogwarts just around the bend here," Hagrid had reappeared, right where he was before they went into the cave. Harry swiftly untucked himself from his hiding place and sat back into his seat before Hermione or Neville noticed him missing as he sat between them. He couldn't help but gasp in awe; it was his second time seeing and it wasn't any less impressive than the first. In fact, it might have been more beautiful with the lake reflecting the castle full of lights and the towers reaching for the stars.

Upon seeing the castle, it only took another five minutes of just being able to stare at its approaching beauty to reach the shores of the lake. Everyone disembarked to follow Hagrid and his lantern to the doors into the castle.

Harry shivered as Hagrid knocked – banged – on the door. It was freezing outside and much colder than he was used to this time of year. Harry knew he got colder much faster than other people in his family simply because he was smaller than everyone else, which was why he usually preferred to stay indoors or bundle up during colder weather. Either way, Harry hadn't dressed for the weather properly and sincerely hoped that those doors opened fast. As if granting his request, the huge doors opened in a grand fashion for the students to meet Professor McGonagall dressed in flowing emerald green robes with matching pointed hat.

"Thank you Hagrid," she nodded to the giant who stepped around her to head to the Great Hall.

She turned back to the students, "Welcome to Hogwarts. This moment marks a momentous occasion for all of you. Tonight you will be sorted into one of the four houses: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, or Slytherin. While which house you get sorted into does not affect your career after your schooling, it will affect where you spend the majority of your time and who you spend that time with. You will sleep in the same dormitory, eat meals in the great hall, and attend classes with your housemates.

"Hogwarts works on a point based system; each house will be given points for proper, upstanding behavior and each house will lose points for unsavory behavior," she gave all of them a stern glare, "Whichever house has the most points at the end of the year will be awarded the House Cup, an honor that grants the entire house an evening of dancing, music, and treats made especially for that house in Great Hall, a grand party to be sure. The other houses will be allowed a smaller party in their respective common rooms to celebrate the end of a long year.

"Now, come inside to warm up. I will give you a few minutes to smarten yourselves up before the sorting ceremony," she opened the doors wider for the group of first years to follow her inside, "Do try to look presentable as you will be representing your year in front of the rest of the school and professors."

After she left, the entire group broke out in worried whispers, asking each other how they looked and if there was anything on their faces. A few students became very popular very quickly when the others learned that they knew a few cleaning and unwrinkling charms and could actually cast them properly. Harry just worriedly tried his best to smooth out his robes and get any dirt off of his bottom when he squatted in the small boat. Looking at Hermione, she was trying to get one of the students to cast an unwrinkling charm on her clothes and Neville was just looking extremely nervous about being in front of so many people. Spotting some dirt on his sleeve, he moved to brush it off, which startled the round-faced boy out of his musings.

"Thanks Harry," the boy in question smiled back, "No problem Neville."

A couple of minutes later, Professor McGonagall came back and announced, "We're ready for you. Follow me. Single file."

The group followed behind her through the doors of the Great Hall, anxious at all of the stares that they were receiving from the great number of older students. As they all walked, they started to clump closer and closer together before they were all just a big lump of nervous group of first years. Harry ended up standing next to a red-headed boy and Ernie from the boat ride over. He had lost Hermione and Neville in the small crowd. They all stopped before a stool with a lumpy hat sitting on top of it. The group was even more surprised when it broke into song!

After the hat had finished its song with its captive audience, Professor McGonagall announced, "When I call your name, you will come to the stool to try on the Sorting Hat. When it calls out your designated house proceed to your house table, designated by a banner above each table." Harry turned to look around through the gaps of the people surrounding him; the tables certainly hadn't been there before nor had the banners. The ceiling was still just a beautiful.

The first of the group to be sent up was Hannah Abbot, who was sorted into Hufflepuff. Susan Bones soon followed her. Down the list the emerald robed woman went until she reached Hermione. The girl walked up to the stool stiffly before she sat down and put on the hat which fell past her nose. Her hands gripped the side of the stool tightly for a moment before relaxing. After a minute the hat called out,

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The table on the far left cheered for the new housemate as Hermione took off the hat and set it back down, perhaps a bit more roughly than necessary, and walked to the red and gold table.

More names passed and the group began to thin down every so slowly before Neville was called out. The boy was really nervous and nearly tripped walking up but caught himself. Harry noticed Malfoy, who was standing toward the front of the group, had moved his foot ever so slightly. He glared.

Neville quickly sat down and jammed the hat onto his head to block the chuckling students from his vision. A few long moments passed with Neville fidgeting on the stool for a while before the hat called out,

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Neville hurriedly ran off the stool, most likely in relief at being put into the house that his parents were in, but had to turn back embarrassedly to give back the Sorting Hat to Professor McGonagall before rushing to the table to the far left. Sadly, he didn't have the sorting hat to shield his eyes from the chuckles this time. At least Hermione comforted him when he sat down.

Draco Malfoy was called up immediately following Neville and the hat barely had to touch his slicked back blonde hair before it called out,

"SLYTHERIN!"

Harry was really starting to get nervous now as the people in the crowd had started to notice him though the group that surrounded him as the numbers thinned even more. Ernie had even left his side to go to Hufflepuff, not that Harry really knew the boy or anything, it was just comforting to have someone to stand next to. Finally, McGonagall called out "Harry Potter" and the whispers immediately broke out when he started to walk up to the stool.

"_That's _Harry Potter?" "Why is he so short?" "Oh, he's adorable! Look at his little feet!" The latter mostly from the female side of the population but everyone was wondering about him. Harry wished he knew what he could actually tell them.

Managing to climb up to the stool without it falling over on him, he placed the hat over his head, which fell to his shoulders and silenced the mutterings to his senses.

'Hmm…very interested indeed Mr. Potter. You are _very_ difficult to sort,' a voice resounded through his head. He started to wonder if the pressure had eventually gotten to him before he recognized the voice from the song, 'Very good Mr. Potter. It is I, the Sorting Hat. Now back to the sorting yes.

'I see that you can be sly with your actions in Diagon Alley, so Slytherin wouldn't be such a bad choice,' the hat paused and Harry tensed, 'but you don't have the ambition for Slytherin, nothing to really strive towards other than normality.' Harry sighed in relief, 'Hufflepuff is also a possibility as you show a great amount of loyalty to your new friends, Hagrid, and your pet owl. However, they might try to smother you in kindness; you have never been so coddled in your life and I doubt you would want to start now hmm. Ravenclaw is a great possibility as your thirst for knowledge would certainly rival many of the top scholars that have graced these halls. Gryffindor, however, is also a possibility. You showed great bravery on the train standing up to those bigger than you, knowing that only pain would await, to protect your friend. Godric would have been proud of such steadfastness.

'Both Ravenclaw and Gryffindor are possibilities. Ravenclaw would lead you on a path of knowledge and enlightenment through the search for that knowledge as it has many before. Gryffindor will leave you with your new friends but conflict will await you, as it does for many.'

Harry thought through the options and decided on Gryffindor. He was willing to fight for his new friends and was sure that they would be willing to do the same for him. He wasn't about to lose them just because of a sorting that was for sure.

'I see. Your decision has been made. Very well then...'

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry grinned and he pulled the hat off of his head. The table with the lion on the banner roared as loud as their mascot at the announcement. Harry jumped down off the stool and reached up to put the hat back on the stool before making his way to the table on the far left and sitting down next to Neville. He was happy.

-Line Break-

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed that just as much as I did writing it. I seriously considered a cliffhanger but decided against it; I needn't keep you waiting any longer. Trying to figure out the scenes was quite a challenge since I had to think of all sorts of different things that might be different because of Harry's situation. Hopefully I managed just fine. Oh, before I forget to ask, if you notice any annoying idiosyncrasies (patterns) in my writing, please point them out to me. I hate using the same phrases over and over again. I try to vary my vocabulary with a thesaurus but sometimes I just get a bit lazy.

An explanation on the behaviors is necessary I think.

Tonks: I love her. She's so much fun to write. Hopefully I managed to balance the prefect Tonks with the "older sister" type Tonks that I tried to portray.

Draco: Startled by a smaller, weaker Harry, he took his opportunity to advance his position in Slytherin house. Most bullies love to prey on people weaker than themselves, so since he didn't know any spells just yet, he tried to have his muscle beat the kid up just to say he did it. My apologies to the Draco lovers; he may or may not be redeemed later in the story when a greater antagonist is necessary.

Ron: He wasn't there simply because he found another place other than Harry's compartment to sit. I tried to show Harry's nervous by having him sit in the back of a train car. Not sure if that showed through. So the different position, and the twins not helping him with his trunk, led to a different compartment.

The Cave: I always thought it would be weird for Hagrid to say "Duck!" to first years when he probably at least twice or three times as tall as they are. How would he even get into the little cave? So I just assumed it was when the ministry workers marked the kids with the Trace to monitor magic outside of Hogwarts.

The Song: You all know it. I don't need to tell you it again. In fact, you could probably recite it verbatim if you've read enough fanfiction by now.

The House: I chose Gryffindor for a variety of reasons, but the biggest fact was it was the only house that Neville, Hermione, and Harry had in common based on what we know. I couldn't make Neville magically bookish enough for Ravenclaw or Hermione social enough for Hufflepuff, so Gryffindor was the only common factor between everyone.

The Hat: I hated the sorting. I don't think I did the Sorting Hat justice with his dialogue. It's so frustrating. I tried three times and just gave up.

Again, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and would LOVE to read your responses. A minute of your time is all I ask for the hours I spent writing this chapter. I reply to every review that gets sent to me (excluding anonymous reviews though I would love to reply to them as well).

P.S. College classes start up again within a week. So updates my not be as quick as they were over the summer due to increased workload and actually finding a part-time job to start paying off my car loan for the new car I just got. Black Toyota 2014 Corolla for those that are curious. It's a beauty. ;) My apologies for the long author's note. I'll try to keep it at a minimum next time.

P.P.S. New image is by jdelgado on deviantart.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Getting Settled**

After Harry sat down at the table he was immediately accosted by his new friends.

"Why didn't you tell us you were Harry Potter?" Hermione asked.

Harry rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Well, after I told Tonks, she acted kind of strange because of my name, so I figured it would be best if I just kept it to myself. I didn't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable just because I'm famous for something I don't remember," he finished modestly.

Before either of his friends could speak up in response, Professor McGonagall called out another name, "Dean Thomas!" The dark-skinned boy nervously made his way to the stool and was sorted into Gryffindor in no time. Between congratulating the new Gryffindor and Professor McGonagall announcing the next person to be sorted, neither Hermione nor Neville could talk to Harry much, to his great relief. He hoped his friends weren't mad at him for _technically_ lying to them (omitting the truth).

The person after Dean, Lisa Turpin, became a Ravenclaw, much to the house's cheers. It was now down to two boys. A Ronald Weasley was called soon after Lisa; he went to Gryffindor nearly as fast as Draco had gone to Slytherin. He sat down next to Dean to what appeared to be his older twin brothers' cheers. Harry vaguely remembered seeing such a family of red-heads at the station. They all seemed pretty happy that they were all together.

Finally, Blaise Zambini was sorted into Slythern; immediately afterward, whispers started to break out among all of the students, all of them excited for the start of term feast. Harry looked up to the staff table to seen an old man stand up from a _really_ nice chair and the chatter from the students simmered down. Harry assumed that this man was the Headmaster that was named in the Hogwarts letter that he had received: Albus Dumbledore. His Aunt had warned him of this man too. So he watched warily expecting something dramatic from such a respectable person in magical society.

The man cleared his throat and proceeded to say, "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down and everyone clapped; Harry followed along a second afterward, not wanting to appear rude to the school's headmaster…despite his obvious eccentrics. He turned back around to see a gigantic selection of food and what felt like everyone staring at him. He shifted nervously under the stare of all of their eyes.

Breaking out from his own stare one of the red-headed boys spoke up, "How do you do Harry? My name is Percy Weasley and I am a prefect here at Hogwarts so feel free to come to me if you ever have any questions," he said slightly pompously. He was very proud of his newly obtained title.

"Thanks Percy," Harry said, "I really appreciate it. I'll probably need a lot of help getting around the school for the first few days. This place is so big!" He gestured slightly with his arms to get try to get across the sheer enormity that is Hogwarts. The girls from the upper year began to giggle at Harry's antics; he blushed which made them giggle even more.

Looking to Hermione sitting across from him, she offered him a bowl, "Chicken, Harry?" He smiled and gratefully accepted a piece of chicken, "Thanks Hermione." Looking around at the selection of food, he managed to ask around for various dishes to be passed to him, so he could get a bit of everything. He had a few pieces of the roast beef, some mashed potatoes, along with some peas and carrots. Harry turned his gaze toward the other first years around him and noticed Ron chowing down like a mad man; he must not have had a great breakfast if he was eating so fast Harry thought.

Harry dug into his food while silently listening to the conversations around him. One by named Seamus Finnigan was telling a story of how his mother and father met. He didn't really get to hear much of it over Hermione talking enthusiastically with Percy about the upcoming classes and Neville sharing his first experiences of accidental magic to those around him, but whatever Seamus said must have been pretty funny to get everyone around him to laugh.

Turning away from his meal and the conversations around him, Harry started to examine his future teachers. Hagrid was one of the ones that he noticed immediately, his large size making him easily distinguishable from everyone around him. There was also a man that had a turban around his head talking to a teacher with shoulder length black hair; he didn't seem really all that interested in what the man in the turban had to say. Suddenly, the black-haired man turned Harry's direction and looked him directly in the eyes. A sharp pain seared through his head but it went away as quickly as it came; the man was rubbing his temples when Harry looked back up at him. He didn't seem all that happy to be listening to the man in the turban anymore.

"Hey Percy," Harry called. The prefect in question looked up from his meal at Harry, "Who are those two men up there? The one with the turban talking to the black-haired guy."

"Oh. The one in the turban is Professor Quirrell and the other is Professor Snape. They each teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions, respectively. Professor Quirrell just took over this year in fact so I don't really know much about him. Professor Snape has been here for quite a few years; a warning for you: don't misbehave in Professor Snape's classroom. He is very…strict in the way that he runs his classroom. Pay attention and follow directions and I'm sure you'll be fine."

Harry gulped at the warning and looked back to the man, who was staring at him again, making Harry quickly turn away. He spotted Professor McGonagall chatting with Headmaster Dumbledore; they both seemed to be having a good time. Eventually, the meal came to an end, much to Ron's disappointment. He had been about to bite into a cherry pie before it disappeared from his hands and clean dishes were in place of all of the piles of food. Harry had just had a piece of cake with strawberries on top. He never got to eat sweets often but always enjoyed them whenever he got the chance to have them.

After the plates had cleared away, Headmaster Dumbledore stood to address the students. He spread his arms wide in welcome, "Welcome to Hogwarts! For those who have just joined us, welcome. For those that have returned, welcome back. Whether you are a first year or a seventh year, your time spent here at Hogwarts will be some of the best years of your lives. I encourage all of you to do your best in all of your classes and perhaps even become part of the many different clubs that are available during your time here."

Harry couldn't help but overhear Percy whisper to one of his brothers, "We have clubs here?" The other red-head just shrugged.

"Now I realize that you are all probably weary from your journey here and so I will keep my notices brief. I have been asked by our generous caretaker, Mr. Filch," he gestured to a man behind the staff table, "to remind you all to be sure to check on the list of contraband items that can be found on his office door. If _seen_ all such items will be confiscated," he winked, smiling broadly.

"I should also like to mention that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden for a reason. Do not go there unless you want to suffer a rather untimely demise," he stared at all of them seriously before smiling, "Finally, the Third-Floor Corridor on the right hand side is also out of bounds due to repairs. Due to the wild magics in the area, I ask that you do not go there should you wish to die before your time. Now, off you all trot. You have lessons in the morning!" Dumbledore made a sweeping motion with his arms and the Great Hall doors flew open to allow the students to head off to their dormitories.

"Alright you lot!" Percy called from the end of the table, "First years please follow me. I will show you where your first classes in the morning are then we will head back to the common room."

The first-years, tired and full, groaned slightly before following the Prefect through the castle.

"Alright, your first class tomorrow morning will be History of Magic with Professor Binns in the morning then you will have Professor McGonagall in the afternoon after lunch. Later, you'll have Herbology with Professor Sprout," Percy made sure to tell the first years to always be respectful to their teachers and to represent Gryffindor with pride or Professor McGonagall would have their hides.

Harry cringed. He did _not_ want to have that woman mad at him. She was slightly scary just being normal if he was completely honest. Well, maybe not scary, just very intimidating he corrected to himself. The tour through the castle was a great refresher for Harry. While he didn't get to see everything he saw the first time around, he got to _try_ to make a few landmarks to find his way back to at least the Great Hall the next morning; though landmarks were made difficult to establish by the constantly moving portraits and staircases (all 142 of them) and wall that pretended to be doors – Percy had actually made the mistake of walking into one, much to his chagrin – and doors that pretended to be walls (they were flat so you had to tickle the doorknob with your finger to get it to open).

After the tour, Harry was quite exhausted. They had gone up and down at least ten different staircases and he just really wanted to fall over into a bed at that point. Even the cobblestone floor looked relatively comfortable to the young boy at that point. Thankfully, they made it to the entrance to the Gryffindor common room – a portrait that was lovingly dubbed "The Fat Lady" – and Percy called out the password. He told the first years that the password is subject to change once a month and that they would be notified on the Announcement Board within the Common Room whenever it changed.

Harry made a mental note to check the board at least once a week.

"Well, that is the end of the tour. The girls' dormitory is to the left and the boys' dormitory is on the right," he gestured to each staircase, "Your names will be marked on your door; this will be the dorm that you have for all seven years here. Do make sure that you get a decent amount rest for classes tomorrow; you wouldn't want to be sleepy during classes tomorrow," he grinned mischievously, "Welcome to Hogwarts and Gryffindor House! Goodnight all." The Prefect then made his way up the boys' dormitory staircase, yawning.

Seeing the yawn, Harry could help but yawn himself, the weight of the entire day really start to weigh on him. His hair was a bit disheveled from the sorting hat and his eyes were watery from the huge yawn. He made for quite the sight, certainly looking his age. Harry rubbed at his eyes after taking off his glasses to clear his vision. Looking up to his bushy-haired friend, Harry said, "Night Hermione," as he started to make his way to the boys' dormitories.

"Goodnight Harry," Hermione called, walking up the staircase to the girls' dormitory.

As Harry climbed the stairs, he made sure to look for his name on one of the doors. He slowly climbed the spiral staircase until he found his own room after passing four doors. Harry reached up and turned the doorknob to reveal a circular room with five four-poster beds set equidistance apart around the room. Next to each bed was a small desk to store their schoolbooks and to do their homework. On the other side of the bed was small nightstand with a glass and a pitcher of water sitting on it. Off to the side of the room led to a bathroom with shower stalls. Finally, in the center of the room was a hardworking furnace burning to warm up the room.

Neville Longbottom, Ron Weasley, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan followed in behind him. Harry noticed one bed the furthest from the door without a trunk sitting on the end and assumed that it was his since he still had his trunk shrunk in his pocket. Harry walked to the end of his bed and placed his trunk at the end of the bed before enlarging it with a touch of his wand. He opened his wardrobe to change out of his robes into a pair of pajamas.

He stripped down to his underwear and shivered from the slight chill still left in the room, before pulling on his pajamas. Harry did his best to ignore his roommates' stares; he had honestly never had to change in front of others before having been homeschooled for the majority of his life. He blushed to himself but when he looked up he noticed that no one had been staring a felt a little better. Perhaps living with other people wouldn't be so bad.

Yawning again, Harry searched through his trunk for his toothbrush and toothpaste before making his way over to the bathroom to prepare for bed. Thankfully, the magic step stool that seemed to follow him around the castle appeared yet again for him when he needed to reach the sink, else he would have been in for an awkward situation every time he wanted to wash his hands or brush his teeth. His mouth feeling minty fresh, Harry made his way back into his dormitory where Neville was waiting for him.

"I…I just thought to let you know that I don't care how tall you are or what your name is, I'm happy to just be your friend. If you'll have me that is?" the round-faced boy smiled a bit awkwardly.

Harry hugged as much of Neville that he could reach as hard as he could, happy that he didn't lose one of his friends because of a silly reason like fame.

"Thanks Neville; I'm happy to be your friend, too," Harry grinned brilliantly and Neville grinned right back. Harry stepped around Neville to climb into his bed, only to have the other boy pick him up when he realized that his friend was having trouble climbing onto a bed that was as tall as he was. Harry thanked his friend while blushing heavily. He was eleven years old! He shouldn't have a problem getting into his own bed!

"No problem Harry," Neville said. Having nothing else to really talk about with his friend, he made his way over to his own bed to prepare for to go to sleep. Thankfully, Trevor the Toad had not made his grand escape just yet and was placed into an enclosed tank on his night stand next to his bed.

After bidding his new roommates goodnight, Harry closed the curtains surrounding his bed, pulled the covers up, and tried to fall asleep. It certainly helped that it was the softest bed he had ever slept in; he was out like a light within minutes.

-Line Break-

Harry woke up to morning rays of sunshine filtering through the curtains surrounding his bed. He was a bit groggy from just waking up until he realized that classes started today! His first magic classes; he couldn't wait. He climbed out of bed, sliding down the side until his feet could touch the floor. He did his best to be as quiet as he could since he could hear the snores of his four other roommates. He tiptoed around to the end of his bed to get some clean clothes to change into after his shower.

He made his way to the bathroom and turned on the hot water. Only after walking in did he realize that there wasn't any soap or shampoo anywhere in the shower stall. He looked around and discovered that there was a small button to the left of the knobs. It was the only thing that he hadn't touched so decided to give it a try. He pushed the button and he was immediately bombarded with bubbles and soap from all sides. He was completely covered from head-to-toe in warm pink suds that smelled like strawberries. He couldn't help but laugh.

After showering, he made his way down to the common room with his schoolbag in tow. He only had the book for History of Magic since he didn't have any other classes until after Lunch. As soon as he had stepped off the last step and into the common room, many of the students in the room turned to stare at him. He waved back nervously. As if they were drawn in from his nervousness, the Weasley Twins came to his rescue.

"How ya doin' Harry ma boy! I'm Fred," he rubbed Harry's hair and then gestured to his twin.

"And I'm George…no wait, I'm Fred and _he's_ George."

"How can you get that wrong brother o' mine? It's obvious I'm the handsome one so I must be Fred."

"I think you have it wrong. You can't be Fred because I'm Fred."

"Fine. You be Fred. I'll be George, the smart one."

Harry eyed the twins going back and forth in their speech. He had no idea who was who but he guessed they liked it like that.

"Nice to meet you both," he smiled. After their riveting introduction they led him over to the couches near the small, burning fireplace. He climbed into a comfy looking armchair which had its armrests immediately occupied by the twins on either side of Harry.

"So Harry, we'd like to welcome you to Hogwarts,"

"And hope you enjoy your stay."

"We'd like to request,"

"That you keep an eye on our younger brother, Ron,"

"He's one of your roommates,"

"We just want to make sure he's happy,"

"And request you to tell us if he's not."

"We'll owe you one, alright?"

"Sure I can do that," Harry said, "But why did you chose me? Why not one of the others in my dormitory?"

"Harry, Harry, Harry," the twin on his right said.

"We had to rescue you from those cougars," he whispered, gesturing to the fourth year girls that were staring at them from the corner of the Common Room.

"Or else they would have pounced on you."

"And who know what would have happened to the Boy-Who-Lived then."

"He would have surely been lost forever if they had gotten their hands on your cute face ickle-Harry," he pinched his cheek jokingly.

"We just needed to get one of you anyway and you were the first one we saw."

Looking at his watch, he noticed that it was nearly eight o'clock. He needed to find Hermione so that they could go down to breakfast together with Neville. He looked to the twins and thanked them for their "rescue" and the he'd keep an eye on their brother for them before getting up.

"Oh and Harry, before you go, don't tell Ron about this conversation."

"Or you won't like the consequences," they finished in chorus. Harry nodded solemnly, "Right. I won't tell."

Harry walked over to the girl's staircase to their dormitory to make his way up. Realized where he was going the twins tried to stop him before he stepped on the stairs but they were too late. They waited in anticipation for the inevitable slide and fall to happen. Nothing happened. Harry was just casually making his way up the stairs and disappeared as he searched for Hermione's dormitory. Whispers broke out between the boys and girls of Gryffindor about this unusual circumstance. It had never happened before.

The green-eyed boy searched each and every door and eventually found it at the top of the tower. He knocked on the door, which was soon opened by none other than Hermione Granger. The bushy haired girl looked quite surprised to see him and quickly expressed that sentiment.

"Harry! What are you doing in the girl's dormitory!?"

The boy in question looked every bit confused as he felt, "I'm just here to see if you were ready to go to breakfast yet…I could go down by myself if you didn't want to," he looked downcast at the thought.

"No, no it's not that. It's just how did you get up the stairs?"

"I walked," Harry deadpanned, "Are you okay Hermione? Did you get enough sleep last night?"

Hermione stared at him before saying, "Stay here. I'll be ready in a few minutes. Don't move."

Not five minutes later, Hermione was out the door with her bag nearly overflowing with books. She started to make her way down the stairs before she remembered the reason that she rushed out of her room in the first place. She turned around and said, "Come on Harry. We don't want to miss out on breakfast." The boy got up from his crouched position and ran over to her before they made their way down the many stairs to the Common Room.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Harry was immediately grabbed by one of the Weasley twins from behind and lifted off of his feet while the other twin checked him over.

"He doesn't look maimed to me Fred."

"Put me down," the twins ignored him.

"He looks perfectly normal to me Gorge. Though it doesn't explain how he managed to make it up the girl's staircase."

Harry was getting slightly frustrated at being manhandled, "I just walked up the stairs. It's nothing special. Now put me down," he looked beseechingly toward Hermione.

Catching his eye, she spoke up immediately, "Put my friend down. He's not some doll you can just pick up whenever you want to!"

Seeing the raging first year and the kicking toddler-like boy in his arms, Fred put Harry back down on his feet.

"Sorry Harry."

"We were just surprised."

"That you managed to make it up the staircase."

"Without looking like this," George started to climb the staircase to the girl's dormitory, but he only managed to make it up a few steps before the rails receded and the stairs turned into a slide that forced George off the staircase. He landed at the bottom of the steps before he sprang up as if to say "Ta-da."

"I guess the castle just likes me," Harry grinned and the twins just shrugged and walked out to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Harry and Hermione followed them out but where stopped by a gasping Neville, "Wait for me!" He caught up with them just as they were making their way out of the portrait hole.

-Line Break-

A/N: I don't really know what else to say, other than I'm sorry. I hadn't realized the amount of time that has passed; I've been suffering an extreme case of writer's block and can't seem to get past it just yet. This chapter was supposed to be much longer including a lot of what was going on in classes and such abut I haven't really been inspired to write much with my boatload of homework and assignments that I have for my newly restarted classes; not to mention the job that I'm going to be staring soon.

I don't have an estimate for the next chapter as I'll be very busy the coming weeks. I just couldn't bring myself to try to make this any longer at the cost of making you guys wait. Hopefully I'll get past this bit of stagnation and update sooner than we all expect.

Thank you for your time and best wishes to you all,

Michael


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